- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 47th mission (PSLV-C45) has successfully launched EMISAT from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
- Further, 28 nano satellites of global customers were also launched. The 28 international customer satellites are from four countries, viz. Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and USA. These satellites have been launched under commercial arrangements.
- EMISAT is an advanced electronic intelligence satellite jointly developed by ISRO and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement. It is a first of its kind in India.
- In the PSLV-C45 mission, the last stage of the rocket (PS4) will be used as orbital platform for satellite. It will host three payloads viz. a) Automatic Identification System (AIS) from ISRO, b) Automatic Packet Repeating System (APRS) from AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and Advanced Retarding Potential Analyzer for Ionospheric Studies (ARIS) from Indian Institute of Space Science and technology (IIST).
- AIS is intended for Maritime satellite applications which would capture messages transmitted from ships.
- AMSAT is intended to assist amateur radio operators in tracking and monitoring position data.
- ARIS would study the structural and composition studies of ionosphere.
- The PSLV-C45 mission has marked several “firsts” for ISRO. For the first time, ISRO has placed the satellites and payloads in three different orbits. ISRO used a multiple-burn technology where the engine shut down and restarted multiple times within a short period of time allowing the rocket to course to the next orbit with the payloads
- Further, a new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL with four strap-on boosters has been used for the launch. Till now, PSLV has been in either two or six strap-on configuration or without any strap-ons.
- It is also the first time that ISRO invited common people to view the launch.
