Thread by @Chethan_Dash

#Space #UPDATE #Thread

Earth observation satellite by @PixxelSpace #Anand will be among seven satellites @NSIL_India will launch as ride-sharing payloads along with @isro’s #Oceansat3, tentatively scheduled to be launched on a #PSLVC54 on Nov 26. 1/n

Pic for representation

Anand will be the first privately developed Earth observation satellite to be launched from India and second from the Pixxel stable. 2/n

The firm had launched Shakuntala using a SpaceX rocket in April 2022. Aside from Anand, NSIL will launch two private communication satellites (Thybolt) for Dhruva Space and four other satellites (Astrocast) for US firm Spaceflight. 3/n

“All of them are through commercial contracts and together the seven satellites through NSIL will weigh around 50 kg. The four satellites for Spaceflight are being built by Swiss firm Astrocast,” an official said. 4/n

Pixxel, which was initially looking at launch services in Russia, decided to launch its first satellite on an Indian launch vehicle in December 2020. 5/n

Following that #Anand was scheduled to be launched on the #PSLV51 in February 2021 making it the firm’s first launch, but the firm withdrew the satellite owing to technical issues. 6/n

“Due to certain software issues that surfaced during the final satellite testing, we have decided not to proceed with our launch..” the firm had then said. It later launched Shakuntala on SpaceX. 7/n

Sources in Isro said that the firm has now resolved all the technical issues and the satellite was ready for launch along with Oceansat-3 or Earth Observation Satellite-6 (EOS-6). 8/n

Hyderabad-based Dhruva, which space qualified its satellite orbital deployer (DSOD 1U) earlier this year, will launch two tech-demonstrator satellites — their Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2. 9/n

Besides the NSIL payloads and #Oceansat3, the PSLV will also put into orbit BhutanSat — a satellite for Bhutan as part of New Delhi’s diplomacy. n/n