The 680 kg main payload, CARTOSAT-2, mounted over DLA, was the first satellite to be injected into orbit at 981.3 sec after lift-off at an altitude of 639 km. About 45 sec later, DLA with the 6 kg PEHUENSAT-1 mounted on it, was separated.

120 sec later, the 550 kg SRE-1 mounted inside DLA was separated and finally, 190 sec later, the 56 kg LAPAN-TUBSAT, mounted on the equipment bay of PSLV fourth stage was separated.

PSLV was initially designed to place 1,000 kg class Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into 900 km polar Sunsynchronous Orbit. Since the first successful flight in October 1994, the capability of PSLV was successively enhanced from 850 kg
to 1,600 kg. In its previous flight (ninth) on May 5, 2005 from the Second Launch Pad (SLP), PSLV launched ISRO’s remote sensing satellite, 1,560 kg CARTOSAT-1, and the 42 kg Amateur Radio satellite, HAMSAT, into a 620 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. Improvement in the capability over successive flights has been achieved through several means. They include increased propellant loading in the stage motors, employing composite material for the satellite mounting structure and changing the sequence of firing of the strap-on motors.

In its present configuration, the 44.4 metre tall, 295 tonne PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately.  The first stage, carrying 138 tonne of propellant, is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world. Six solid propellant strap-on motors, each carrying nine tonne of solid propellant, are strapped on to the core stage. The second stage carries 41.5 tonne of liquid propellant. The third stage uses 7.6 tonne of solid propellant and the fourth has a twin engine configuration with 2 tonne of liquid propellant.

Mounting of second stage over the first stage

Besides the use of DLA, PSLV-C7 had other modifications compared to the previous flights — reduction of propellant from 2.5 tonne to 2 tonne in the fourth stage, incorporation of a Video Imaging System to capture payload and DLA separation events, altitude based Day of Launch wind biased steering programme during Open Loop Guidance, deletion of Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC) system for one of the air-lit strap-on motors and reduction of first stage SITVC injectant by 500 kg.

LAPAN-TUBSAT, launched by PSLV-C7, is an Indonesian earth observation satellite and a technology demonstrator for control systems. It carries two Charge Coupled Device (CCD) cameras with a ground resolution of 5 m and 200 m respectively. In addition, it carries an experiment for message store and forward system. LAPAN-TUBSAT is a cooperative venture between Indonesian Space Agency, LAPAN and Technical University of Berlin.

PEHUENSAT-1, also launched by PSLV-C7, is a six kg Argentinean nano-satellite to serve educational, technological and scientific fields. PEHUENSAT-1 was developed by University of Comahue of Argentina, AMSAT (Amateur Satellite Association of Argentina) and Argentina Association for Space Technology. It is intended to provide an experimental platform to perform amateur radio experiments between colleges and universities of Argentina.

The success of PSLV-C7 in placing four spacecraft precisely in the predetermined orbit has further demonstrated the reliability and versatility of PSLV to launch multiple satellites in various types of orbit. So far it has nine consecutively successful flights and launched 11 Indian spacecraft including eight remote sensing satellites, a meteorological satellite, a communication satellite for amateur radio operators and a recoverable space capsule, besides six small satellites for international customers.

The vehicle will be used to launch India’s first mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1, in 2008

Outdoor Broadcast Vans at SDSC SHAR covering PSLV-C7 launch live

Third and fourth stages