India will be celebrating its 75th year of independence on 15th August.
The Union Govt. has made elaborate plans to mark this momentous occasion based on the theme of ‘’AzadiKa Amrit’’.
Indian Space Agency, ISRO, also has its own plans to commemorate this event by launching a special satellite to the space just a week before 15th.
we take a very quick look at what this satellite is, what would be its core function, and what it signifies symbolically.
To mark the upcoming 75th year of Indian independence, ISRO, on 7th August, will launch 75 payloads developed and built by 750 girl students from across India.
10 girls each were chosen from 75 government girl schools across the country with a basic understanding of space and were tutored for this. These payloads were then integrated by the student team of "Space Kidz India", an organization creating "Young scientists" for the country and spreading awareness among children.
AzadiSAT is essentially an 8-kg ‘’Cubesat’’ that will be carrying 75 small payloads. It will be launched aboard SSLV i.e the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, to the LEO i.e Low-Earth Orbit.
The launch will take place on the morning of 7th August from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. AzadiSat will have a life-span of 6 months and it is the result of ISRO pushing for more participation of women in STEM i.e Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
This will be the first-of-its-kind space mission with an all-women concept to promote women in STEM as UN theme for this year is 'Women in Space'…! Interestingly, this will also be the maiden flight of the SSLV, the new arsenal in ISRO’s armory.
The SSLV, also referred as ‘baby rocket’ has been fully designed and developed by the ISRO facilities in Thiruvananthapuram, with industry participation. The SSLV seeks to serve the rapidly growing market for the launch of small satellites into the Low-Earth Orbit i.e upto a distance of 500 kms into the space.
SSLVs have emerged in recent times to serve the requirements of the developing nations, universities, institutions and private firms of small satellites.
The benefit it offers in comparison to India’s PSLV is immense. At 34-m tall with a lift-off mass of 120 tonnes, SSLV is 10 m shorter than the mainstay of India’s space programme i.e the PSLV, and is about 200 tonnes lighter than it.
It is, infact, ISRO’s lightest launch vehicle till date. Contrary to PSLV’s 70 days’ time to get integrated, the SSLV takes only 72 hours for its assembling and integration. It also merely needs 6 people to integrate it as opposed to a huge team for PSLV.
Manufacturing of SSLV is the responsibility of the newly formed commercial arm of ISRO, the NSIL i.e New Space India Limited.
As per Isro’s own admission, the features which will make SSLV attractive to prospective
customers are its lower cost, faster turnaround time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch on-demand feasibility, and the need for minimal launch infrastructure.
SSLVs are expected to make India a more lucrative market for future satellite launches. These were the relevant informations about Azadisat and the SSLVs.
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