India to launch imaging satellite Microsat-R on Jan 24

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch an imaging satellite Microsat-R along with a student payload 'Kalamsat' from its spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on January 24, it announced on Thursday.

"The 46th flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44) will launch Microsat-R and Kalamsat from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on January 24," the state-run space agency said in a statement on its website.

The country's only spaceport is located at Sriharikota, about 90 km northeast of Chennai.

The four-stage launch vehicle which has alternating solid and liquid stages, with two strap-on configuration has been identified for the mission and configuration designated as PSLV-DL, the statement said.

"PSLV-C44 is the first mission of PSLV-DL and is a new variant of PSLV," the agency said.

The fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle will be moved to a higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments, it added.

The student payload 'Kalamsat' will be the first to use PS4 as an orbital platform.-IANS