On August 11 2017, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) newest satellite, the IRNSS-1H, was flagged off to the launch site at Sriharikota, from its home at the ISRO Satellite Center in Bengaluru. According to reports, it reached Sriharikota on the evening of 12 August.
IRNSS-1H is ISRO’s replacement satellite for the failing IRNSS-1A, which was launched in 2013. Both satellites are part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, which will be the backbone of India’s satellite navigation system, NavIC.
IRNSS-1H is expected to be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, where all of ISRO’s major launches take place. Although no definite date for the launch has been announced, it will most likely take place on 31 August, via ISRO’s PSLV-XL, a larger version of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
In spite of its name, the PSLV-XL can launch small satellites like IRNSS-1H into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) and was used for previous IRNSS launches.
This will be ISRO’s fifth launch of 2017, and its third one using the PSLV. Earlier this year, the PSLV broke a world record for launching 104 satellites at one go, and, on June 22, launched India’s Cartosat-2E satellite along with 30 smallsats.
