Satellites and Missions launched by ISRO in 2015-16

Satellites/Mission Launched

Key Features

Reusable space shuttle RLV-TD (launched on 23 May 2016)

• Mission also known as Hypersonic Flight Experiment
• First step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully reusable vehicle
• It is 6.5 meter long and weighs about 1.75 tons
• Cost of the project is 95 crore rupees…. Read More

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)

• It comprises of seven satellites that were launched aboard seven PSLVs from 2013 to 2016
• IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F and 1G were launched by PSLV-C22, PSLV-C24, PSLV-C26, PSLV-C27, PSLV-C31, PSLV-C32 and PSLV-C33 in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014, March 2015, January 2016, March 2016 and April 2016 respectively.
• The other select countries in the league includes Global Positioning System (GPS) of US, GLONASS of Russia, BeiDou of China, GALILEO of Europe and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System of Japan…Read More

GIRI Radar System (established on 21 March 2016)

• GIRI stands for Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interferometer near Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
• It was set up at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL)
• It is a 30 MHz radar system that will be engaged in meteor and space weather research
• It consists of a rectangular antenna array of 160 two-element Yagi-antenna among others… Read More

High-thrust Cryogenic Engine CE-20 (Successfully tested on 19 February 2016)

• Tested at Propulsion Research Centre in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu
• The successful hotbed test lasted 640 seconds
• Paved the way for the first developmental flight of the GSLV Mark 3 in December 2016
• It uses Hydrogen as fuel, stored at minus 253 degrees Celsius and liquid oxygen as oxidizer at minus 193 degrees Celsius.. Read More

6 Singapore satellites (launched on 16 December 2015)

• The satellites were launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C29
• For the PSLV, it was the 32nd flight overall, and 31st consecutive successful launch
• With this, ISRO has put into orbits 57 foreign satellites belonging to 20 countries successfully… Read More

GSAT-15 communication satellite (launched on 11 November 2015)

• Launched aboard the European Ariane 5 VA-227 from Kourou in French Guyana
• The 3164 kilogram GSAT-15 carried communication transponders in Ku-band
• It also carried GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands
• GSAT-15 is the 10th communication satellite and has an estimated lifespan of 12 years.. .Read More

ASTROSAT (launched on 28 September 2015)

• It is India’s first dedicated satellite for astronomy research
• Launched aboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C30), which is the tenth flight of PSLV in its 'XL' Configuration
• The satellite is of about 1513 kg and was placed in a 650 km orbit
• It carries four X-ray payloads, one UV telescope and a charge particle monitor… Read More

NISAR Mission

• It stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission
• It is optimized for studying hazards and global environmental change
• As part of it NISAR satellite, is expected to be launched during the year 2021
• NISAR will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequency… Read More

GSAT-6 communication satellite (launched on 27 August 2015)

• Launched aboard GSLV-D6 from Sriharikota
• This was GSLV’s ninth flight and fifth developmental flight
• GSAT-6 weighing 2117 kg is intended to provide S-band communication services.. Read More

GAGAN System (launched on 13 July 2015)

• GAGAN stands for GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION
• With this, India has become the fourth nation after the US, Europe and Japan to have inter-operable Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS)
• GAGAN is the first SBAS system in the world to serve the equatorial region… Read More

Five British satellites (launched on 10 July 2015)

• These satellites are three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites and two auxiliary satellites, viz., CBNT-1 and De-OrbitSail
• These all satellites are built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
• Launched aboard PSLV-C28, which was the 13^th flight of PSLV..Read More