Dhruva Space, Bellatrix Aerospace startups to launch payloads on ISRO PSLV-C55

The launch of the PSLV-C55/TeLEOS-2 is scheduled for April 22, 2023 at 14:19 hours IST from SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.

Bengaluru-based space tech startup Bellatrix Aerospace is going to test one of its propulsion technologies, systems that guide satellites to their destination, aboard Indian Space Research Organisation's PSLV-C55 on April 22.

The ISRO launch vehicle will also have payloads from Hyderabad-based space tech startup Dhruva Space, making it their second launch in six months. In November 2021, the startup test-launched its Thybolt 1 and 2 satellites aboard another ISRO rocket.

According to NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO, the payloads from Bellatrix Aerospace and Dhruva Space would be sitting on the rocket's PSLV Orbital Experimental Module - 2 (POEM-2).

This module uses the spent PS4 stage to carry out in-orbit experiments after all satellites are deployed from the rocket. The payloads will be powered 'on' after all satellites are deployed, NSIL said.

Dhruva Space will have its DSOD-3U and DSOD-6U deployer units along with DSOL-Transceiver in S- & X- bands on board the launch vehicle.

Bellatrix Aerospace will test-launch its Hall effect thruster (HET)-based ARKA200 Electric Propulsion System.

Satellite propulsion systems, or thrusters, are the engines that keep satellites in orbit for their entire lifespan, which is around 10-15 years.

The HET is one of the four thrusters that Bellatrix has been developing and this one is propelled by the power available on satellites. The other thrusters developed by the startup include microwave plasma thrusters, nano thrusters and green propulsion systems.

In 2021, the startup successfully tested a HET thruster at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.

Apart from that, PSLV- C55's POEM-2 will also have experimental payloads from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST).