Forced to put off space missions due to COVID-19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hoping to push through at least one Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission this year - in November - from Sriharikota.
To facilitate the mission with minimum movement of personnel to the spaceport, the space agency is setting up a ‘virtual launch control centre’ at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba here.
A replica of the mission control centre at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the virtual facility will enable ISRO to remotely carry out system checkouts on the launch vehicle from Thiruvananthapuram prior to the mission.
“Of course, we will still need personnel at Sriharikota for the actual integration and further pre-launch operations. But this way, the number of personnel who have to physically travel to Sriharikota for a mission can be cut down by 70 to 80%,” an official said.
Hoping to make up for lost time, the space agency hopes to have the PSLV C-49 mission (RISAT-2BR2 radar imaging satellite) in November.
The COVID-19 outbreak had upset ISRO’s launch schedule for this year. In fact, ISRO centres in Thiruvananthapuram had remained shut for nearly two months from March 23 in view of the pandemic. Travel between ISRO centres across the country also has been affected due to the pandemic.
