The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch a communication satellite on Thursday, 17 December at 3.41 pm IST from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The communication satellite CMS-01 will be onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C50). While the launch date was initially scheduled for 7 December, it was pushed back to 8 December and again to 14 December due to bad weather and the possibility of hurricanes, Eenadu reported. Yesterday, the PSLV-C50 along with the CMS-01 satellite was moved to the launchpad preparation for launch day.
PSLV-C50 is the 22nd flight of the PSLV in the 'XL' configuration, and the 52nd PSLV flight. ISRO added that this will be the 77th launch vehicle mission from SDSC, SHAR. The PSLV is 44-metre-high and has four stages with six strap-on booster motors on to the first stage that gives it's a higher thrust during the initial flight moments. ISRO has developed and used different PSLV variants, including ones with either two or four strap-on motors, or the Core Alone variant without any strap-on motors. As the PSLV is not a reusable rocket, the first stage won't be reclaimed and it will crash into the Indian Ocean.
