PSLV C24 launching on 4th April 2014

PSLV C24 launching on 4th April 2014

THE 58.30-hour countdown for the April 4 launch of ISRO's PSLV-C24/IRNSS-IB Mission would start at 0644 hrs on Wednesday.

ISRO sources here on Tuesday said the launch rehearsal activities were completed successfully and the pre-countdown activities were in progress at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the India's spaceport of Sriharikota. about 80 km from here.

The IRNSS-IB spacecraft was already integrated with the PSLV-C24 launch vehicle. The PSLV-C24, earning the 1432 kg IRNSS-1B. will lift off from the First Launch Pad at SIIAR Range at 1714 hrs on April 4. During the countdown, pro-pellants would be filled in the four-stage PSLV vehicle, the sources added. The 44.4 metre tall PSLV-C24 vehicle, with a lift off mass of 320 tonnes, would be ISRO's 26lh flight. It would use XL version of PSLV. This was for the sixth time ISRO would be using the 'XL' configuration. The earlier five being PSLV-CI1 (Chandrayaan-l).PSLV-C17/GSAT-l2. PSLV-C19/RISAT-1. PSLV-C22/IRNSS-1A and the PSLV-C25 Mars Orbiter Spacecraft Missions.

About 18 minutes after the lift off. the satellite would be launched into a Sub Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit with an apogee of 20.652 km and a perigee of 284 km with an inclination of 19.2 degree with respect to the equatorial plane.

The configuration of IRNSS-1B was similar to that of its IRNSS-1A and the satellite has been realised in less than seven months after the launch of its predecessor. The applications of IRNSS-IB included terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, integration with mobile phones, mapping and geodetic data capture, terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers, besides visual and voice navigation for drivers.