PSLV-C20 & SARAL

PSLV-C20

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in its 23rd flight (PSLV-C20), launches the Indo-French satellite SARAL along with 6 commercial payloads from Canada, Austria, Denmark and UK into a 785 km polar sun synchronous orbit inclined at an angle of 98.538 degree to the equator. PSLV-C20 was launched on Feb 25, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota. 

With a lift-off mass of 407 kg, SARAL is the 56th satellite to be launched by PSLV. The six payloads from abroad together have a lift-off mass of 259.5 kg. PSLV-C20 is the ninth flight of PSLV in 'Core-Alone' configuration (without solid strap-on motors). 

PSLV Workhorse Launch Vehicle of ISRO

PSLV is the first operational launch vehicle of ISRO. PSLV is capable of launching 1600 kg satellites in 620 km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 1050 kg satellite in geo-synchronous transfer orbit. In the standard configuration, it measures 44.4 m tall, with a lift off weight of 295 tonnes. PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and carries 139 tonnes of propellant.

The reliability rate of PSLV has been superb. There had been 22 continuously successful flights of PSLV, till February 2013. With its variant configurations, PSLV has proved its multi-payload, multi-mission capability in a single launch and its geosynchronous launch capability.

SARAL

The Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA (SARAL) is a joint Indo-French satellite mission for oceanographic studies. SARAL will perform altimetric measurements designed to study ocean circulation and sea surface elevation. The payloads of SARAL are: 

• Ka band Altimeter, ALTIKA - built by the French National Space Agency CNES. The payload is intended for oceanographic applications.
• ARGOS Data Collection System - built by CNES. It will collect a variety of data from ocean buoys to transmit it to the ARGOS Ground Segment for subsequent processing and distribution. 
• Solid State C-band Transponder (SCBT) is from ISRO and intended for ground RADAR calibration.

Application of SARAL

SARAL data products will be useful for operational as well as research user communities in many fields like:

•  Marine meteorology and sea state forecasting
•  Operational oceanography
•  Seasonal forecasting
•  Climate monitoring
•  Ocean, earth system and climate research
•  Continental ice studies
•  Protection of biodiversity
•  Management and protection of marine ecosystem
•  Environmental monitoring
•  Improvement of maritime security

Auxiliary Payloads with SARAL

Besides SARAL, PSLV-C20 launched six auxiliary payloads from Canada, Austria, Denmark and UK from Sriharikota on Feb 25, 2013. 

Name	Weight	Country
SAPPHIRE	148 kg	Canada
NEOSSAT	74 kg	Canada
NLS 8.1 (UNIBRITE)	14 kg	Austria
NLS 8.2 (BRITE)	14 kg	Austria
NLS 8.3 (AAUSAT-3)	3 kg	Denmark
STRaND-1	6.5 kg	UK