ISRO launches EMISAT and 28 customer satellites by PSLV-C45

On April 1, ISRO has successfully launched India’s latest EMISAT defence satellite from the Sriharikota spaceport. In today’s mission, the rocket PSLV-C45 flew in a new configuration called “QL”. In this configuration, the rocket is fitted with four longer versions of strap-on motors that provide the vehicle the required additional thrust. Earlier, the rocket used to be in “XL” version with six strap-on motors or two or with no strap-on motors known as core alone configuration. The PSLV-C45 successfully injected EMISAT in a 748-km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 28 international customer satellites in a 504-km orbit. Of these, 24 are from the US, two from Lithuania, and one each from Spain and Switzerland. EMISAT is a satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus weighing about 436 kg. The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.