ISRO to launch Oceansat-3, 8 nanosatellites

ISRO is set to launch Earth Observation Satellite - 06 (EOS-06) and eight nanosatellites.

Earth Observation Satellite-EOS-06 (Oceansat-3)

• EOS-6 is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series. This is to provide continuity services for Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas.
• Payloads
  • Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-3)
  • Sea Surface Temperature Monitor (SSTM)
  • Ku-Band Scatterometer (SCAT-3)
  • ARGOS
• Mission Objectives
  • To ensure the data continuity of Ocean color and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications.
  • To improve the applications, some additional datasets such as Sea Surface Temperature and more bands in the Optical region for fluorescence and in the Infrared area for atmospheric corrections are accommodated.
  • To develop/improve related algorithms and data products to serve in well-established application areas and to enhance the mission utility.

Launch Vehicle- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54) PSLV-C54

• This will be the 56th flight of PSLV and the 24^th flight of the PSLV-XL version.
• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India.

Passenger Satellites in PSLV-C54

Anand:

• It is a technology demonstrator nanosatellite, which is aimed at demonstrating the capabilities and commercial applications of miniaturized earth-observation cameras.

Thybolt:

• These two amateur radio communication nanosatellites are named Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2 and are part of the company's Thybolt mission.

Astrocast:

• It is a 3U spacecraft on a technology demonstration mission for the Internet of Things (IoT).
• These are basically CubeSats, which is a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites.
  • CubeSats are built to standard dimensions (Units or “U”) of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm.
  • They can be 1U, 2U, 3U, or 6U in size, and typically weigh less than 1.33 kg (3 lbs) per U.

Joint India-Bhutan Mission (INS-2B)

• ISRO will launch ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B) spacecraft with the PSLV-C54 mission.
• INS-2B will have two payloads:
  • NanoMx: NanoMx is a multispectral optical imaging payload developed by Space Applications Centre (SAC).
  • APRS-Digipeater: APRS-Digipeater payload is jointly developed by DITT Bhutan and URSC.