PSLV-XL

Integration of an 'XL' strap-on motor with the Core Stage of PSLV-C31 in progress

Placement of Nozzle End Segment of PSLV-C31 First Stage over Launch Pedestal in progress

Close-up view of PSLV-C31 Integration

Close-up view of PSLV-C31 Integration

IRNSS-1E spacecraft being integrated with PSLV-C31

IRNSS-1E spacecraft integrated with PSLV-C31

Fully integrated PSLV-C31 with IRNSS-1E at Second Launch Pad

PSLV C31 Take off

Description:

• IRNSS 1E will ride the most powerful version of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, named the PSLV XL, into orbit.
• The PSLV XL configuration features six strap-on solid rocket boosters packed with extra propellant to help haul heavier satellites into space.
  Four of the PSLV′s six boosters and the solid-fueled core stage will ignite to drive the 44.4-meter (146.7-foot) rocket off the launch pad, and the launcher′s other two strap-on motors will fire at T+plus 25 seconds.
  The six boosters and first stage motor collectively generate more than 2 million pounds of thrust in the first phase of launch.
  After consuming their pre-packed solid propellant, the first four boosters will jettison from the PSLV at T+plus 70 seconds, followed by the final pair at T+plus 92 seconds, according to a mission press kit released by the Indian Space Research Organization.
  The first stage will have burned its supply of 138 metric tons — about 300,000 pounds — of propellant by T+plus 1 minutes, 51 seconds, when the spent rocket motor will jettison and the PSLV′s hydrazine-burning Vikas second stage engine takes over control of the flight.
  The Vikas engine will produce 180,000 pounds of thrust in its roughly two-and-a-half minute firing, during which the PSLV’s nose shroud will release at T+plus 3 minutes, 18 seconds, to reveal the IRNSS 1E satellite once the rocket flies above the dense lower layers of the atmosphere at an altitude of 112 kilometers (69 miles).
  The PSLV′s third stage solid motor will ignite at T+plus 4 minutes, 24 seconds, and propel the rocket toward orbit for nearly two minutes. Then the rocket will coast through space for almost four minutes before the third stage detaches and the liquid-fueled fourth stage begins the final maneuver to place the IRNSS 1E satellite into orbit.
  The fourth stage′s two engines are programmed to burn for about eight-and-a-half minutes, then switch off before deployment of the IRNSS 1E satellite at T+plus 19 minutes, 20 seconds.
• The mission will place the spacecraft in an orbit with a low point of about 284 kilometers (176 miles), a high point of 20,657 kilometers (12,835 miles) and an inclination of 19.2 degrees, according to ISRO.
• Rocket thrusters mounted on the IRNSS 1E satellite will adjust its path around Earth in the weeks after launch to reach a circular geosynchronous orbit nearly 36,000 kilometers (22,300 miles) in altitude tilted 28.1 degrees to the equator.