A polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C7) will place in orbit advanced remote sensing satellite, CARTOSTAT-II on January 10, 2007 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
CARTOSAT-11 will have cartographical applications besides 56 kg Indonesian Satellite Lapan Tubstat and an Argentian micro satellite as light as 6 kg. The satellites would be placed in a 635-km polar sun-synchronous orbit. PSLV-C7 will also launch space capsule recovery experiment on January 10.
?India seeks to demonstrate its capability to bring orbiting capsules back to earth with this launch and the experiment will be a precursor to developing a reusable satellite launch vehicle,? said BN Suresh, director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, at the 94th Indian Science Congress, on Thursday.
The mission sequence for the space recovery experiment would be for about 10 to 12 days after which it would be brought back to earth station. ?The reusability of launch vehicles will result in a significant reduction in satellite launching costs,? said Suresh.
The reusable launch vehicle will look like a small aircraft. It is designed for retrieval of spacecraft for refurbishment and re-use and enable manned missions, he said.
Simultaneously, ISRO is also developing SCRAMJET, an air-breathing jet propulsion system in which the rocket uses atmospheric oxygen for its propulsion. SCRAMJET will travel six times faster than the speed of sound.