Development of a Small Satellite Series ISRO Experience

The development of a small Stretched Rohini Satellite Series (SROSS) in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has moved hand in hand with that of one class of indigenous launch vehicles, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV). In other words, these satellites have been developed as compatible payloads for those launch vehicles. The first two satellites SROSS-1 and SROSS-2 although were very versatile satellites carrying space science related payloads could not be orbited owing to failure of launch vehicles. The third satellite in the series, SROSS-C, was a smaller satellite launched by the third developmental flight ASLV-D3 on May 20, 1992. Earlier, the 40kg class rohini satellites (RS) were developed as payloads for the smaller launch vehicles (SLV-3) during the pre-eighties, which were suitably augmented to the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles to carry the 150 kg class Stretched Rohini Satellite Series during the pre and post nineties. This new satellite series were configured on the basis of a common bus concept, which are extremely compact, cost effective as well as innovative. It is compact because subsystems are very densely packed, cost effective because the bus is common and hence easily reproducible, and innovative because it is modular and hence easily reconfigurable. The paper describes some of these important aspects giving full narration of the development including pre-launch, launch and on-orbit operations of SROSS-C in detail.