Tag Archives: Sapphire Satellite

On Monday morning at 7:26 a.m. EST an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India with four Canadian built satellites and three other satellites.

On February 18th Canada’s first dedicated military satellite will launch aboard an Indian rocket. What is the significance of this launch?

The launch of several critical Canadian satellites has once again been delayed. Scheduled for a January 12th launch, the new target date is mid-February according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). During thermo-vacuum testing an issue came up with the primary payload on the launch, the joint Indian-France satellite SARAL.

In yet another delay, SpaceRef has learned that the launch of two important government satellites, NEOSSat and Sapphire along with two university built nanosatellites has been postponed from its December 12th launch date to January 12th. No reason has been released publicly for the delay.

With one defence satellite ready to fly, the government’s attention will soon turn to others. That was the message Defence Minister Peter MacKay delivered to media representatives Thursday at a press conference for the official “send-off” of the Sapphire satellite.

Now that the Sapphire satellite finally has a firm launch date on an Indian rocket on December 12th, the government has seen fit to call a media briefing at the David Florida Laboratory (DFL) to talk about the satellite and it’s mission for the benefit of the public.

After years of delays, two important government satellites, NEOSSat and Sapphire along with two university built nanosatellites are now set to launch on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C20 on Wednesday, December 12 from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center.

Early Thursday morning at 5.47 a.m. Indian local time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Indian built RISAT-1 earth observation satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. During the post-launch briefing ISRO chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan said that the next Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launch will be for the French SPOT-6 satellite in August.

Canada’s long awaited launch of the NEOSSat and Sapphire satellites will have to wait a little longer, slipping into a Q3 launch, with an anticipated earliest launch date of mid-July.