Satish Dhawan Space Centre
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| This article contains information regarding a spaceport which is either currently in the process of launching, or is scheduled to launch within the next 2 weeks. Details may change as the countdown and ascent progress. |
The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) is the launch centre for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, India and is also referred to as Sriharikota. The centre is at 13°47' North 80°15' East and is roughly 80 kilometres north of Chennai in South India. It was originally called Sriharikota Range (SHAR), and was sometime known as Sriharikota Launching Range. The centre was renamed to its present name 2002 after the death of ISRO's former chairman Satish Dhawan. The space centre has kept the title SHAR during these name changes.
The centre became operational 1971-10-01 when an RH-125 sounding rocket was launched.[1] The first attempted launch of an orbital satellite, Rohini 1A aboard a Satellite Launch Vehicle, took place 1979-08-10, but due to a failure in thrust vectoring of the rocket's second stage, the satellite's orbit decayed 1979-08-19.[2]
The SHAR facility now consists of two launch pads, with the second built recently. The second launch pad was used for launches beginning in 2005 and is a universal launch pad, accommodating all of the launch vehicles used by ISRO. The two launch pads will allow multiple launches in a single year, which was not possible earlier.
India's lunar orbiter Chandrayaan 1 is scheduled to be launched from the centre on 9 April 2008.
[edit] Launches from SDSC
- 1979: First experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini satellite on board failed.
- 1980: Second experimental launch of SLV-3 Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit.
- 1983: Second launch of SLV-3. RS-D2 placed in orbit.
- 1987: ASLV with SROSS-1 satellite on board launched.
- 1992: Third developmental launch of ASLV with SROCC-C on board (May). Satellite placed in orbit. First indigenously built satellite
- 1993: First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-1E on board fails.
- 1994: Fourth developmental launch of ASLV successful (May). Second developmental launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with IRS-P2 successfully (October).
- 1995: Third operational IRS (IRS) launched.
- 1996: Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P3 successful (March).
- 1997: First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D successful (September).
- 1999: IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (26 May, 1999).
- 2001: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-D1 (GSLV-D1), the first developmental launch of GSLV with GSAT-1 onboard partially successful.
- 2002: PSLV-C4 launches KALPANA-1 (September).
- 2003: GSLV-D2, the second developmental launch of GSLV with GSAT-2 successful (May).
- 2004: First operational flight of GSLV (F01) successfully launches EDUSAT (September).
- 2005: Launch of CARTOSAT and HAMSAT by PSLV-C6 from the second launch pad (Universal Launch Pad) (May).
- 2006: Second operational flight of GSLV (F02) unsuccessful July 10, 2006. GSLV-F02 was carrying INSAT-4C.
- 2007: Successful launch of CARTOSAT-2, SRE-1, LAPAN-TUBSAT and PEHUENSAT-1 on PSLV C7 on January 10, 2007.
- 2007: SRE-1 splashed down in the Bay of Bengal on January 22, 2007 and was successfully recovered by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy, making India one of the few countries to have re-entry technology.
- 2007: PSLV-C8 successfully places an Italian satellite, AGILE into its orbit on April 23.
- 2 September 2007 -- GSLV-F04 launched with INSAT 4CR[3]
[edit] References
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) |
[edit] External links
- link sriharikota
- ISRO website: Satish Dhawan Space Centre
- Sriharikota on Encyclopedia Astronautica
- Federation of American Scientists: Satish Dhawan Space Centre
- SHAR centre layout
ISRO Facilities |
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| ISRO Satellite Centre • INSAT Master Control Facility • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre • Satish Dhawan Space Centre • Space Applications Centre • Development and Educational Communication Unit • ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network • ISRO Inertial Systems Unit • National Remote Sensing Agency • Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres • Physical Research Laboratory • National Mesosphere/Stratosphere Troposphere Radar Facility |
