PSLV-C55 mission: How ISRO will use spent PS4

The PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), which is part of the PSLV-C55 mission.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is scheduled to launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C55 (PSLV-C55) mission on April 22 with Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 as primary satellite and Lumelite-4 as a co-passenger satellite, will will carry out in-orbit scientific experiments by using the spent PS4 (fourth and final stage of PSLV) as an orbital platform.

The PSLV-C55 mission has the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), where the spent PS4 of the launch vehicle would be utilised as an orbital platform to carry out scientific experiments through non-separating payloads.

This is the third time that PS4 will be used after satellite separations as a platform for experiments.

According to the space agency, POEM has seven experimental non-separable payloads

• PiLOT (PSLV In orbitaL Obc and Thermals), a OBC package from Indian Institute of Space and Technology (IIST)
• ARIS-2 (Advanced Retarding Potential analyser for Ionospheric Studies) experiment from IIST
• HET-based ARKA200 Electric Propulsion System from Bellatrix
• DSOD-3U and DSOD-6U deployer units along with DSOL-Transceiver in S- & X- bands from Dhruva Space
• Starberry Sense Payload from Indian Institute of Astrophysics

The PSLV-C55 mission is a dedicated commercial mission through NSIL. TeLEOS-2 and Lumelite-4 satellites are intended to be launched into an eastward low inclination orbit.

ISRO said that the TeLEOS-2 satellite is developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the government of Singapore) and ST Engineering. Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore. TeLEOS-2 carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload. TeLEOS-2 will be able to provide all-weather day and night coverage, and be capable of imaging at 1m full-polarimetric resolution.

Lumelite-4 satellite is co-developed by the Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) of A*STAR and by the Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR) of the National University of Singapore. Lumelite-4 is an advanced 12U satellite developed for the technological demonstration of the high-performance space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). Using the VDES communication payload developed by I²R and STAR’s scalable satellite bus platform, Lumelite-4 aims to augment Singapore’s e-navigation maritime safety and benefit the global shipping community.