On 22nd April 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched PSLV-C55 with two Singaporean satellites – TeLEOS-2 as the primary satellite and Lumelite-4 as a co-passenger satellite, as a part of the PSLV-C55/TeLEOS-2 mission, from Satish Dhawan Space Center(SDSC)-Sriharikota
Range(SHAR), Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
- The 2 satellites, TeLEOS-2 and Lumelite-4 were intended to be launched into an Eastward low-inclination orbit.
- This marks the 57th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV) and the 16th mission using the PSLV Core Alone configuration (PSLV-CA).
- The PSLV-C55 also carried the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-2 (POEM-2).
- The two satellites are being launched under a contract with the New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO.
About TeLEOS-2
The TeLEOS-2 satellite was developed under a partnership between the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), representing the Government of Singapore, and ST Engineering(Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd)
Weight: 741 kg
Use: The satellite will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore.
Key Points:
i.The TeLEOS-2 satellite carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.
ii.It will provide all all-weather day and night coverage. And it is capable of imaging at 1m full-polarimetric resolution.
About Lumelite-4:
The LUMELITE-4 satellite was co-developed by the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR) of the National University of Singapore(NUS).
Weight: 16 kg
Key Points:
It is an advanced 12U satellite developed for the technological demonstration of the High-Performance Space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES).
The satellite aims to augment Singapore’s e-navigation maritime safety and benefit the global shipping community by using the VDES communication payload developed by I2R and STAR’s scalable satellite bus platform.
About POEM-2:
The PSLV-C55 mission will carry out the in-orbit scientific experiments using the spent PS4 stage as an orbital platform.
This is the 3rd time that PS4 will be used after satellite separations as a platform for experiments.
As a part of POEM-2, there are 7 experimental non-separable payloads:
- PiLOT (PSLV In orbitaL Obc and Thermals), an OBC package from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST).
- ARIS-2 (Advanced Retarding Potential Analyser for Ionospheric Studies) experiment from IIST.
- HET based ARKA200 Electric Propulsion System from Bellatrix.
- 3U Satellite Orbital Deployer (DSOD-3U) & 6U Satellite Orbital Deployer (DSOD-6U) units along with DSOL-Transceiver in S- & X- bands from Dhruva Space.
- Starberry Sense Payload from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IAP).
The payload belongs to the Department of Space, Bellatrix, Dhruva Space, and Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
Recent Related News:
On 7th March 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out an extremely challenging controlled re-entry experiment of the decommissioned orbiting Megha-Tropiques-1 (MT-1) satellite in an uninhabited area in the Pacific Ocean between 5 degrees south(°S) to 14°S latitude and 119° West(W) to 100°W longitude.
About Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO):
Chairman– S Somanath
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka
