Launch History
| Flight | Variant | Launch date/time (UTC) | Launch pad | Payload | Payload mass | Result | Note(s) |
| D1 | PSLV | 20 September 1993 | Sriharikota FLP* | IRS 1E | 846 kg | Failure | This was the first developmental flight of the PSLV. The IRS-1E satellite which was proposed to be launched was derived from the engineering model of IRS-1A incorporating a similar camera and an additional German-built Monocular Electro-Optical Stereo Scanner. Upon launch, there was an unexpected large disturbance at the second stage separation which resulted in a sub-orbital flight of the vehicle. Further, one of the retro rockets designed to pull the burnt second stage away from the third stage failed. Even though the rocket could have continued its flight at this point, the control software caused an error in the pitch control loop of the on-board guidance and control processor causing the launch vehicle to crash in to the Bay of Bengal 700 seconds after take off. Even though the mission was a failure, the launch team and an expert committee appointed thereafter noted that the mission had validated many technologies and that most sub-systems had performed optimally. |
| D2 | PSLV | 15 October 1994 | Sriharikota FLP* | IRS P2 | 804 kg | Success | The second development flight of the PSLV was successful after the lauch vehicle injected the 804 kg remote sensing satellite, IRS-P2, into a near polar sun-synchronous orbit at 820 km, 17 minutes after the launch. With the successful launch, India became the sixth country in the world to launch satellite in low-Earth orbit. The satellite was controlled by ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore, Lucknow and Mauritius. The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad received the first signal from IRS-P2 98 minutes after the launch. The IRS-P2 was declared operational from November 7, 1994 after certain orbital manoeuvres and continued to be operational for three years until 1997. |
| D3 | PSLV | 21 March 1996 | Sriharikota FLP* | IRS P3 | 920 kg | Success | On its third developmental test flight, the PSLV placed the 922 kg IRS-P3 satellite in the intended 817 km polar orbit. The IRS-P3 satellite contained an X-ray astronomy payload, a C-band transponder and two remote sensing payloads: (i) a Wide Field Sensor (WiFS) similar to that of IRS-1C, with an additional Short Wave Infrared Band (SWIR) and (ii) a Modular Opto-electronic Scanner (MOS), which was provided by DLR (Germany) in the framework of a cooperative agreement between ISRO and DLR. The sensor was designed for vegetation dynamic studies while MOS was designed for ocean remote sensing. There was no data recording device on board of the IRS-P3 and data was transmitted in real time to the ground stations in Hyderabad (India) and Neustrelitz (Germany). The mission was completed during January 2006 after serving for 9 years and 10 months. With the consecutive successful launches of the PSLV, it was decided not to plan any more ASLV missions. |
| C1 | PSLV | 29 September 1997 | Sriharikota FLP* | IRS 1D | 1,250 kg | Partial failure | After three developmental test flights, this was the PSLV's first operational flight, where it successfully placed the 1200 kg remote sensing satellite, IRS-1D, into a polar orbit. However, it did not place the satellite in the desired circular orbit of 817 km, but in an elliptical orbit due to a leak of helium gas from one of the components in the fourth stage. This required certain orbit adjustments to be executed, thereby raising the perigee to 737 km, while the apogee remained at 821 km. The launch was witnessed by Prime Minister I.K. Gujral and also marked India's first launch vehicle built without Russian assistance. The mission was completed during January 2010 after serving for 12 years and 3 months. |
| C2 | PSLV | 26 May 1999 | Sriharikota FLP* | OceanSat 1 DLR-Tubsat KitSat 3 |
1,050 kg 107 kg 45 kg |
Success | PSLV's successful second operational launch was notable as it was its first commercial launch and also as it was for the first time an Indian launch vehicle carried multiple satellites. The payload consisted of the 1036 kg IRS-P4 (or OCEANSAT-1) remote sensing satellite as the primary payload and two auxiliary payloads - the South Korean KITSAT-3 weighing about 107 kg and the DLR-TUBSAT weighing 45 kg developed by the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) and DLR. In the flight sequence, IRS-P4 was injected first, followed by KITSAT-3 and DLR-TUBSAT in that order. The mission was supported by ISTRAC network of ground stations lcoated at Bangalore, Sriharikota, Lucknow, Mauritius, Bearslake, Russia and Biak, Indonesia. During the initial phase of the mission the ground station at Wilhem in Germany also provided network support. Upon injection of the satellites, data from the IRS-P4 was received at Hyderabad while KITSAT-3 data was received at the ground station in Korea and the data from the TUBSAT was received at the university ground station in Berlin. |
| C3 | PSLV | 22 October 2001 | Sriharikota FLP* | TES Proba BIRD |
1,108 kg 94 kg 92 kg |
Success | Following the PSLV C2, the PSLV C3 also successfully placed three satellites in orbit - TES (Technology Experiment Satellite) of India weighing 1108 kg, PROBA (PRoject for On Board Autonomy) of Belgium weighing 94 kg and the BIRD (Bispectral and Infrared Remote Detection) of Germany weighing 92 kg. While TES and BIRD were placed in a 568 km sun-synchronous orbit, PROBA, was placed in an elliptical orbit. The National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra was present at the at the Mission Control Centre at Sriharikota during the launch. With the launch, India became only the second country after the United States of America can offer images with one-metre resolution. Because of the high resolution, the TES was speculated as a spy satellite. In response, the ISRO chairman Dr Kasturirangan remarked that a satellite of one-metre resolution can have various utilities and that it was up to the user to decide. |
| C4 | PSLV | 12 September 2002 | Sriharikota FLP* | METSAT 1 (Kalpana 1) | 1,060 kg | Success | The PSLV C4 was India's first launch to place a satellite, the 1060 kg METSAT, into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. Compared to the earlier PSLV launches, the flight path of PSLV C4 was modified to inject the METSAT into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit having a perigee 250 km and an apogee of 36,000 km. The METSAT was meant exclusively for meteorological purposes as distinct from the three-in-one multi-purpose INSAT satellites that have been used for meteorology, telecommunications and broadcasting. Subsequently, on February 5, 2003 the METSAT was renamed to Kalpana-1 by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in memory of Kalpana Chawla - a NASA astronaut of Indian origin who perished in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. |
| C5 | PSLV | 17 October 2003 | Sriharikota FLP* | ResourceSat 1 | 1,360 kg | Success | The PSLV C5 was the eighth PSLV launch and its payload capability had been progressively increased by more than 600 kg since the first PSLV launch in 1993. The launch took place despite heavy rain which commenced half an hour before the scheduled launch. However, ISRO decided to go ahead with the launch as despite rain, there were no strong winds and there were weather reports suggested that the monsoons would set in by the next day. Following the launch, a press statement released by the Minister of State (Space) announced that the PSLV has been proposed for the Chandrayan 1 moon mission. The satellite, India's heaviest earth observation satellite, had three cameras with vastly improved spatial resolutions and had a mission life of five years. |
| C6 | PSLV | 5 May 2005 | Sriharikota SLP** | CartoSat 1 HAMSAT |
1560 kg 42.5 kg |
Success | The 1560 kg Indian remote sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-1 and the 42.5 kg HAMSAT were injected successfully into a 632 x 621 km high polar orbit by the PSLV C6. The President, Dr. Abdul Kalam, witnessed the launch from the Mission Control Centre. This was also the first launch from the Second Launch Pad at Sriharikota, which was inaugurated on the immediately preceding day and had the integrate-transfer-and-launch technology. After its integration in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the PSLV-C6 was transported on rails to the Umbilical Tower (UT) located one km away using the Mobile Launch Pedestal where the final operations were carried out. In addition to India's eleventh remote sensing satellite, the CARTOSAT-1, the launch also included the HAMSAT micro-satellite for providing satellite based amateur radio services to amateur radio Operators in the South Asia region. |
| C7 | PSLV | 10 January 2007 | Sriharikota FLP* | CartoSat 2 SRE LAPAN-TUBsat PEHUENSAT-1 |
680 kg 500 kg 56 kg 6 kg> |
Success | On January 10, 2007, the PSLV C7 successfully launched four satellites: India's CARTOSAT-2 and Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1), Indonesia's LAPAN-TUBsat and Argentina's PEHUENSAT-1 into a 635 km high polar orbit. For the first time, a Dual Launch Adopter (DLA) was used in the PSLV to accommodate two primary satellites at the same time. In addition to the DLA, other key differences from the PSLV C6 included the reduction of propellant from 2.5 tonne to 2 tonne in the fourth liquid propellant stage, incorporation of a video imaging system to capture payload and DLA separation events, altitude based Day of Launch wind biased steering programme during Open Loop Guidance and the removal of Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC) system for one of the strapons ignited in the air. The SRE-1 module remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal at 04:16 GMT on January 22, 2007. The re-capture of the SRE-1 module made India the fourth country to do so after the United States of America, Russia and China. |
| C8 | PSLV-CA | 23 April 2007 | Sriharikota SLP** | AGILE AAM |
352 kg 185 kg |
Success | First flight of the 'Core-Alone' version. ISRO's first exclusively commercial launch. |
| C10 | PSLV-CA | 21 January 2008 | Sriharikota FLP* | TecSAR | 295 kg | Success | An Israeli reconnaissance satellite, and ISRO's first fully commercially launch., |
| C9 | PSLV-CA | 28 April 2008 | Sriharikota SLP** | Cartosat-2A IMS-1/TWSAT RUBIN-8 CanX-6/NTS CanX-2 Cute-1.7+APD II Delfi-C3 SEEDS-2 COMPASS-1 AAUSAT-II |
690 kg 83 kg 8 kg 6.5 kg 3.5 kg 3 kg 2.2 kg 1 kg 1 kg 0.75 kg |
Success | |
| C11 | PSLV-XL | 22 October 2008 | Sriharikota SLP** | Chandrayaan I | 1,380 kg | Success | First flight of the PSLV-XL version. India's first mission to the Moon. |
| C12 | PSLV-CA | 20 April 2009 | Sriharikota SLP** | RISAT-2 ANUSAT |
300 kg 40 kg |
Success | India's first all weather observation spy satellite. ANUSAT is the first satellite built by an Indian University. |
| C14 | PSLV-CA | 23 September 2009 | Sriharikota FLP* | Oceansat-2 Rubin 9.1 |
960 kg 8 kg 8 kg 1 kg> 1 kg 1 kg 1 kg |
Success | Rubin 9.1 and 9.2 were non-separable payloads, orbited attached to the vehicle's fourth stage. SwissCube-1 and ITUpSAT1 are Switzerland's and Turkey's first home-grown satellites launched into space. |
| C15 | PSLV-CA | July 12, 2010 | Sriharikota FLP* | Cartosat-2B ALSAT-2A |
690 kg 117 kg 6.5 kg 1 kg |
Success |
Main satellite Cartosat-2B and Algeria's ALSAT-2A along with AISSat-1, TIsat-1, and StudSat. TIsat-1 is the second ever Swiss satellite launched into Space. AISSat-1 and TIsat are part of NLS-6. |
| C16 | PSLV | 20 April 2011 | Sriharikota | ResourceSat-2 X-Sat YouthSat |
1206 kg 106 kg 92 kg |
Success | In the current flight, the standard version, with six solid strap-on booster motors strung around the first stage, was used. |
| C17 | PSLV-XL | 15 July 2011 | Sriharikota SLP** | GSAT-12 | 1410 kg | Success | Indigenously developed flight computer 'Vikram' used for the first time. |
| C18 | PSLV-CA | 12 October 2011 11:00:00 IST | Sriharikota | Megha-Tropiques SRMSAT |
1000 kg 10.9 kg 3 kg 28.7 kg |
Success | The Megha-Tropiques satellite for climate research launched along with three micro-satellites: the SRMSAT built by the SRM University, Chennai, the remote sensing satellite Jugnu from the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the VesselSat-1 of Luxembourg to locate ships on high seas. |
| C19 | PSLV-XL | 26 April 2012 | Sriharikota | RISAT-1 | 1850 kg | Success | Radar Imaging Satellite-1 (RISAT-1) is a state of the art Microwave Remote Sensing Satellite carrying a synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload operating in C-band (5.35 GHz), which enables imaging of the earth surface features during both day and night under all weather conditions. |
| C21 | PSLV-CA | 9 September 2012 | Sriharikota | SPOT-6 (France) PROITERES |
720 kg 15 kg | Success | Launch attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. French remote sensing satellite SPOT-6(built by EADS Astrium) and Japanese microsat PROITERES (built by Osaka Institute of Technology) placed in orbit. SPOT-6 carries 2 × NAOMI (Pan: 2 m, MS: 8 m ) Pushbroom imagers and will offer 2 meter resolution data in a 60 kilometer by 60 kilometre swath. PROITERES features an electric propulsion rocket engine and aims to demonstrate powered-flight technology for an ultra-small satellite and monitor the Kansai region with a high-resolution camera. mRESINS is an experimental avionics payload called "mini Redundant Strapdown Inertial Navigation System" bolted to the vehicle's fourth stage. It was for testing new avionics for future PSLV missions. |
| Planned launches | |||||||
| C20 | PSLV-CA | 12 December 2012 | Sriharikota | SARAL Sapphire |
Planned | ||
'*'FLP - First Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre; **SLP - Second Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Read more about this topic: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
Famous quotes containing the words launch and/or history:
“Now launch the small ship, now as the body dies
and life departs, launch out, the fragile soul
in the fragile ship of courage, the ark of faith
with its store of food and little cooking pans
and change of clothes,”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)