Isro to launch Brazil's Amazonia-1, 20 satellites on Feb 28; will be 1st full commercial mission of NSIL, IN-SPACe

NEW DELHI: In its first mission of 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will launch Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 as main payload and 20 other satellites from Sriharikota at 10.23 am on February 28. The launch of PSLV-C51 is the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), a PSU under the Department of Space.

The 20 co-passenger satellites include one nano satellite (INS-2TD) from Isro, four commercial satellites booked via recently-formed space facilitator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and 15 satellites commercially arranged by NSIL itself.

The four satellites being launched via IN-SPACe are three UNITYsats from a consortium of three Indian academic institutes and one Satish Dhawan satellite from

startup Space Kidz India

.

Space Kidz India

said Satish Dhawan satellite, named after former Isro chairman Satish Dhawan, is aimed at studying space radiation and magnetosphere. This will be their second satellite after Kalamsat to be launched by Isro.

UNITYsat is a combination of three satellites designed and built as a joint development by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumbudur (JITsat), G H Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur, (GHRCEsat) and

Sri Shakthi Institute

of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat).

A satellite, 'Anand', built by Indian space startup Pixxel, is also part of the launch.‘Anand’ is the first in a series of constellation of

earth observation satellites

that aims at monitoring the planet 24x7 and provide data to detect, monitor and predict global phenomena in real time. The data from 'Anand' satellite will be used for detecting forest fires early, oil spills and gas leaks, tackling air and water pollution levels, and solving problems of pest infestations and crop diseases on time.

NSIL is undertaking this PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 mission under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc, US. Amazonia-1 is the optical earth observation satellite of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which took eight years to develop it. This satellite would strengthen the existing structure by providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory, an Isro statement said.

Isro chairman K Sivan had earlier called the upcoming PSLV-C51 launch, dedicated to private satellites, “as part of space reforms", which are aimed at increasing the participation of private companies in the space sector.