PSLV-C53

The PSLV-C53 mission was a dedicated commercial mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), launched on June 30, 2022, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. It utilized the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, specifically in its DL configuration (which features two solid rocket boosters), marking the fifteenth time this configuration was employed.

The primary objective of PSLV-C53 was to deploy three satellites into a low Earth orbit (LEO). These satellites were:

• DS-EO: A 365 kg Earth Observation satellite belonging to Singapore. It carries a multi-spectral, near infra-red and short wave infra-red camera.

• NeuSAR: A 155 kg satellite belonging to Singapore's ST Engineering and is Singapore’s first commercial small satellite carrying a SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) payload.

• SCOOB-I: A 3 kg nanosatellite of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, a student satellite providing a technology demonstration platform.

The mission was notable for being ISRO's second commercial mission using the PSLV's Orbital Experimental Module (POEM). In this mission, the POEM was stabilised using a dedicated Navigation Guidance and Control (NGC) system. POEM derives power from solar panels deployed using sun tracking. It also has dedicated control thrusters. This enables the POEM platform to be used as an orbital platform for conducting scientific experiments. The PSLV-C53 mission successfully injected all three satellites into their intended orbits. Furthermore, the POEM was intended to maintain a stable orbit for a period of time to allow for in-orbit experiments before eventually deorbiting.