The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched the PSLV-C43 with a payload of 31 satellites. The launch took place from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. PSLV-C43 soared in a trajectory crossing the path of the Sun and sped to inject India's Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS), which is dubbed 'Sharp Eye', towards the launcher's intended first orbit.
HysIS satellite adds a mass of 360kg to the payload, and has been launched besides 30 other satellites from six nations. 23 of the satellites were from the United States. These smaller satellites added a weight of 281.4kg to the payload, and adds to ISRO’s list of 239 foreign satellites that have already been launched. While ISRO is only using the lightest version of the PSLV rocket, the core-alone PSLV, it is expected to be modified for future missions as the Indian space agency plans manned missions.
In its 13th flight of the Core-Alone version and 45th launch of the PSLV, ISRO carried one satellite each from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Spain, and 23 satellites from the USA on board as co-passengers of the HysIS. When asked whether HysIS could be used for anti-terror operations, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said ISRO's job was only to build the satellite, but did not rule out such a possibility. “Our duty is to mainly build the satellite which can precisely identify an object. The usage... we are not bothering. That depends on the users. Right now, it is meant for Earth Observation missions. But after seeing the results, maybe... but it's not in our hands,” he said.
He commended the ISRO team for making HysIS, calling the satellite state-of-the-art technology. “The heart of the system required for the HysIS satellite is basically an optical imaging detector chip. This chip has been indigenously designed by Space Application Centre of ISRO and fabricated at our semi-conductor lab at Chandigarh. I am sure that team ISRO can be proud that they are really giving an excellent space asset to India,” Sivan said.
