In this New Year India is all set to magnify the space exploration agency of India by launching heavy communication satellite Gsat-30. This communication satellite will be launched on January 17th from Kourou space centre in French Guiana on board an Ariane-5 rocket of the European Space Agency (Arianespace). Considering the importance of this great occasion, ISRO chief K. Sivan said, “The launch of Gsat-30 from Kouru will be our first satellite in the New Year (2020) to augment the capacity to provide communication links to state-run and private service providers.”
As per Sivan’s comment, The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is planning to launch 25 such satellites this year, including Aditya-L1 satellite which is devised to be inserted in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point (L1), about 1.5 million km from the earth. The satellite will study the solar corona that is the outer layers of the sun which extends to thousands of km above the disc (photsphere or corona). Aditya will also study the Chromosphere (ultra-violent) and the particle flux emanating from the sun and reaching the L1 orbit.
The organization will be introducing many significant satellites during the year such as SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) to place smaller satellites weighing 500kg and less in the earth’s lower orbit, GSLV with 4-metre ogive payload fairing (heat shield), GSAT-20 satellite, NavIC with indigenous atomic clocks, Indian Data Relay Satellite System and Xposat.
On the concluding note Siva mentioned, “During 2019, six launch vehicle and seven satellite missions were realised by us. The year also marked also marked the 50th launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse of the space agency."
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