ISRO begins countdown for first mission in 2021

Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for its first launch of 2021, which is scheduled at 10:24 am from the SHAR Centre in Sriharikota on Sunday. This is for the first time that an Indian rocket will launch 637-kg Amazonia-1 of Brazil as primary satellite from the launch pad of the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district, about 100 kms from Chennai.

Named Satish Dhawan Satellite or SD Sat, after the founding father of the Indian Space program Prof Sathish Dhawan, it will send names of 25,000 individuals to space. The nanosatellite will carry a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in the form of an SD card and a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the top panel to show solidarity and gratitude for his Aatmanirbhar initiative and space privatisation. The names of Isro chairperson Dr K Sivan and scientific secretary Dr R Umamaheswaran have been etched on the bottom panel.

The satellite will carry 18 co-passenger payloads (four from ISRO's Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, three UNITYsats from a consortium of 3 Indian academic institutes and the SD SAT from SKI) and 14 from NSIL. Developed by Chennai-based SpaceKidz India, it will also carry three payloads — one to study space radiation, one to study the magnetosphere, and another that will demonstrate a low-power wide-area communication network. PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 is the first dedicated commercial mission of NSIL, which is undertaking it under a commercial arrangement with Seattle, US-based satellite rideshare and mission management provider, Spaceflight Inc. "We are eagerly looking forward to the launch. We are very proud to launch the first Brazilian-built satellite, Chairman and Managing Director of NSIL, G Narayanan, was quoted as saying by PTI.

"This satellite would further strengthen the existing structure by providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory," an ISRO statement said.