ISRO’s PSLV puts Brazil's Amazonia-1 and 18 other satellites into orbit 

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Context 

On the National Science Day, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Brazil’s optical earth observation satellite, Amazonia-1, and 18 co-passenger satellites, five from India and 13 from the U.S. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

Key Highlights 

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) added another feather to its cap by launching 19 satellites onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C51 (PSLV-C51) from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

  • PSLV-C51 mission is the first dedicated launch for NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a government of India company under the Department of Space that serves as ISRO’s commercial arm.

  •  India's first space mission for 2021 was one of the longest for a PSLV rocket and concluded 1 hour, 55 minutes and 7 seconds into its flight.

  • PSLV – C 51 consists of Amazonia -1 as primary satellite & 18 co-passenger satellites.

• The Primary payload Amazonia-1 is the first Brazilian satellite to be launched from India.

• Amazonia-1 is a sun-synchronous satellite, the first one to be fully designed, integrated, tested and operated by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research

• Amazonia-1 is a part of Amazon mission, which includes two other satellites, Amazonia 1B and Amazonia 2.

• Together Amazonia satellites are expected to provide remote sensing data for the purpose of observing and monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region.

• Amazonia-1 will take pictures of the planet every five days with the help of the wide-view optical imager on board

• Amazonia-1 will provide images for environmental and agriculture monitoring throughout Brazilian territory with a high rate of return visit. It will also serve to monitor the coastal region, water reservoirs, environmental disasters among other applications.