ISRO's PSLV-C45 launch of EMISAT, 28 other satellites: When, where to watch it live

On 1 April, the Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to send Indian intelligence satellite EMISAT and 29 other commercial satellites to orbit in a special mission. The PSLV-C45/EMISAT mission will be the first attempt by ISRO to place satellites in three different orbits in a single satellite launch mission.It will also test a new variant of the PSLV rocket – the PSLV-QL, which has 4 additional strap-on boosters to give it a huge additional thrust.[caption id="attachment_6329141" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

An illustration of ISRO's EMISAT satellite. Image: ISRO/AFC[/caption]

EMISAT: India's newest spy in the sky

The highlight of the launch on 1 April is EMISAT — a powerful electronic intelligence/surveillance satellite — developed jointly by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organisation). The satellite can intercept communication signals on the ground and also capture these signal at high-resolution from space.ISRO will likely place EMISAT in a high-elliptical orbit, giving the satellite a good amount of time to record clear signals from a specific region on the ground.

Other payloads on PSLV-C45

The PSLV-C45 mission will also launch 28 other commercial satellites for a range of uses, including earth observation, internet of things (IoT) satellites and navigation.Here's more about what each of them is and what they're capable of.[caption id="attachment_6324861" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

The PSLV-C40 mission launching from ISRO's launchpad at Sriharikota. Image: ISRO[/caption]ISRO has shared an update on 31 March suggesting that the mission launch will go as planned, with more updates to come leading up to liftoff hours from now.

When and where to watch the EMISAT launch live