PSLV-C4 was the fourth operational launch and overall seventh mission of the

PSLV The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

program. This launch was also the forty-eight launch by Indian Space Research Organisation since its first mission on 1 January 1962. The vehicle carried and injected India's first dedicated

Meteorological satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or g ...

, Kalpana-1 (originally called MetSat) into the

Geosynchronous transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step f ...

. PSLV-C4 was launched at 15:53 hours IST on 12 September 2002 from

Satish Dhawan Space Centre Satish Dhawan Space Centre - SDSC (formerly Sriharikota Range - SHAR) is a rocket launch centre ( spaceport) operated by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota, Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota ...

(then called "Sriharikota Launching Range").

Mission highlights

*Fourth operational launch of the

program. *Overall seventh mission of the

program. *First Indian

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in o ...

to inject a satellite in the

. *PSLV-C4 carried and injected India's first dedicated

, Kalpana-1.

Mission parameters

* Mass: ** ''Total liftoff weight:'' ** ''Payload weight:'' * Overall height: * Propellant: ** ''First stage:''

Solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ...

HTPB based (138.0 + 54 tonnes) ** ''Second stage:'' Liquid

UDMH Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH; 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, НДМГ or codenamed Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is used as a rocket propellant. It is a colorless liquid, with a sharp, fishy, ammonia-like smell ...

+ (40.6 tonnes) ** ''Third stage:''

HTPB based (7.6 tonnes) ** ''Fourth stage:'' Liquid MMH + MON (2.5 tonnes) * Engine: ** ''First stage:'' S139 ** ''Second stage:'' Vikas ** ''Third stage:'' ** ''Fourth stage:'' 2 x PS-4 *

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that sys ...

: ** ''First stage:'' 4,628 + 662 x 6 kN ** ''Second stage:'' 725 kN ** ''Third stage:'' 260 kN ** ''Fourth stage:'' 7.4 x 2 kN * Duration: 1,211 seconds

Payload

PSLV-C4 carried and deployed India's first dedicated

, Kalpana-1 into the

References

{{Expendable launch systems Spacecraft launched in 2002 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

Mission highlights

Mission parameters

Payload

See also

References