Prime Minister to watch PSLV launch on June 30

Nellore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present for the launch of PSLV-C23 scheduled for June 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space centre, Shar, Sriharikota in SPSR Nellore district. Mr Modi will reach Shar by helicopter on the evening of June 29 for an overnight stay and witness the launch on the next day.

Nellore district collector N. Srikant, superintendent of police Navdeep Singh, joint collector G. Rekha Rani and trainee joint collector Md. A. Imtiaz discussed the arrangements for the PM’s visit with Shar officials led by director M.Y.S. Prasad at Sriharikota on Saturday.

The launch of Isro’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C23, is scheduled for 9.49 am on June 30 (Monday). Its main payload will be a 714-kg French Earth Observation Satellite, SPOT-7. It will also carry the 14-kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) & NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada, each weighing 15 kg, and the 7-kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.

These five satellites are being launched under commercial arrangements that ANTRIX has entered into with the respective foreign agencies. All the five satellites have been integrated with PSLV-C23 and the final phase of checks is on. The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) Committee and the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) are meeting on June 27 to review the progress of prelaunch activities. After the clearance from the LAB, the 49-hour countdown for the mission will commence at 08:49 hrs IST on June 28.