Bengaluru: India’s space agency ISRO is planning to launch the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 and three Indian payloads on 28th February as part of its first mission of 2021. One of these satellites is manufactured by an Indian startup. These satellites are to be launched via Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-51 at 10.24 am from Sriharikota Spaceport, over 100 km from Chennai.
Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) K Sivan confirmed the PSLV-C51 schedule to PTI on Friday. Amazonia-1, reportedly the first earth observation satellite entirely developed by Brazil, is the primary payload.
Apart from this, the other three payloads are named Anand’, ‘Satish Dhawan’ satellite and ‘UNITYsat’. ‘Anand has been created by India’s space startup Pixxel, and ‘Satish Dhawan Satellite’ by Chennai-based Space Kidz India. UNITYsat is a combination of three satellites.
Sivan had earlier described the upcoming mission as “special for us, special for the entire country” and beginning of a “new era of space (sector) reforms”.