Placement-ready Online Courses: Your Passport to Excellence - Start Now
PSLV full form is Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. It is the third generation launch vehicle constructed and sustained by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). It is adjustable and the first liquid-stage satellite launch vehicle developed by India.
PSLV enabled India to launch its satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits for IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) and small-sized GTO (geostationary transfer orbit) satellites.
Important events of PSLV
- India launched 104 satellites around the Earth in polar orbit on 15 February 2017 using PSLV.
- PSLV helped India launch 48 Indian satellites and 209 international satellites during 1994 and 2017.
- It helped launch two spaceships, Chandrayan-1 in 2008 and Spacecraft Mars Orbiter in 2013.
Characteristics of PSLV
- Vehicle height is 44m
- Vehicle diameter is 2.8 m
- Lift of mass is 320 tonnes
- 4 stages
- Three variants, namely, PSLV-G, PSLV-CA, PSLV-XL.
- First launched on 20 September 1993.
Technical specification of PSLV
- Referred to as the ISRO Workhorse, it has been launching multiple satellites to Low Earth Orbits repeatedly.
- It can transport a load of about 1,750 kg to the Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbits at an altitude of 600 km.
- PSLV-G & PSLV-XL have six solid rocket strap-on engines in order to raise the thrust in the first stage.
- It utilizes solid & liquid propulsion systems alternatively, i.e., it uses strong rocket motors in the 1st & 3rd stages and liquid rocket engines in the 2nd & 4th stages.
Stages of PSLV
There are four stages in PSLV:
1. PS1 (First stage): In the first stage, the S139 solid rocket motor supplemented by six solid strap-on boosters is used. 4800 kN – maximum thrust produced.
2. PS2 (Second Stage): In the second stage, an Earth-storable liquid rocket engine named Vikas engine developed by the Liquid Propulsion System Centre is used. The maximum thrust produced is 799 kN.
3. PS3 (Third stage): In the third stage, a solid rocket motor offers the necessary thrust The maximum thrust produced is 240 kN.
4. PS4 (Fourth Stage): The fourth stage has two liquid engines that we can store on Earth. The maximum thrust produced is 7.6 X 2 kN.