India launches PSLV rocket with CMS-01 communications satellite
December 16, 2020
The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, has launched their second mission of 2020 using their workhorse rocket: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV.
The mission carried the CMS-01 replacement communications satellite to orbit on Thursday, 17 December at 10:11 UTC, or 05:11 EST. The launch occurred locally at 15:41 IST (Indian Standard Time) from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s east coast.
As with the previous flight in November, the PSLV rocket launched a single primary passenger: the CMS-01 communications satellite, previously named GSAT-12R.
The mission marked the 52nd flight of the PSLV rocket, which took CMS-01 into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit, or GTO.