Countdown for the launch of ISRO’s PSLV-C21 rocket from the Satish Dhavan Space Center (SDSC) of Sriharikota Range (SHAR) began at 6.51 am on Friday.
All systems are in place and except in the event of unforeseen developments or bad weather, the PSLV-C21 will zoom into the sky at 9.51 am on Sunday.
September 9 will be a red letter day for ISRO as the PSLV-C21 launch will be its 100th mission. Prime minister Manmohan Singh, governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy and several other dignitaries will be at SHAR to witness the historic event.
Several scientists from France, Japan and other countries have already reached SHAR to witness the commercial launch.
During the countdown ISRO chairman K.Radhakrishnan will inspect the First Launch Pad (FLP) from which PSLV-C21 will be sent into the orbit
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will carry a 720-kg advanced French remote-sensing satellite (SPOT-6), a 15-kg Japanese spacecraft and a 50-kg India- made mini remote sensing satellite (RADIS) into the orbit.
The four-stage rocket will use solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage will be powered by one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and carry 139 propellants.
A cluster of six strap-ons are attached to the first stage motor, four of which will be ignited on the ground and two in the air.
The space agency has so far undertaken 99 missions _ 62 satellites, 37 launch vehicles and one unmanned Chandrayan-1 _ since the launch of India’s first satellite, Aryabhata, from a Russian cosmodrome in 1975.
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