Skip to main content

How to watch the Indian Space Research Organisation launch 19 satellites tonight

Watch Live: Launch of Amazonia-1 and 18 Co-passenger satellites onboard PSLV-C51

NASA and SpaceX might be the organizations whose launches you hear about most often, but they’re not the only ones in the business of launching rockets. The Indian space agency also often launches satellite missions, and there’s one such launch tonight: The PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 mission, as highlighted by space.com.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching a total of 19 satellites tonight U.S. time, including a Brazilian satellite to monitor the deforestation of the Amazon region. The launch will be streamed live, and we’ve got the details on how to watch.

How to watch the launch

PSLV-C51
PSLV-C51 ISRO

The launch is scheduled for 11:54 p.m. ET (8:54 p.m. PT) on Friday, February 27, with a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket set to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, in Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal.

ISRO will livestream the launch on its YouTube channel, which you can watch either here or using the embedded video above. Coverage of the launch begins at 11:20 p.m. ET (8:20 p.m. PT).

You can expect to see final launch preparations, liftoff, separation of the heat shield, the separation of the four stages of the PSLV rocket, and the deploying of the various satellites.

What’s being launched

The primary satellite being launched during the mission is Amazonia-1, an optical Earth observation satellite that is being launched for Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). This is INPE’s first designed, tested, and operated satellite, and will gather remote sensing data for monitoring deforestation in the Amazonian rain forest.

According to INPE, the satellite can generate images of any part of the world every five days using its wide-view optical imager — a camera that captures data in three visible light bands and one near-infrared band, and which can image areas 850km (528 miles) wide at 60 meters resolution.

In addition to monitoring deforestation in the Amazon, INPE says data from Amazonia-1 will also be used for monitoring coastal regions, water reservoirs, natural and cultivated forests, and environmental disasters.

As well as Amazonia-1, the launch will carry a further 18 “co-passenger” satellites including the Satusg Dhawan SAT nano-satellite for studying space weather, UNITYsat for providing radio relay services, and 12 SpaceBEE constellation satellites for Internet of Things company Swarm Technologies.

Editors' Recommendations

Georgina Torbet
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
How to watch the annular solar eclipse this week, in person or online
annular solar eclipse 2023 livestream m17 092 1

Skywatchers across the U.S. will have the chance this week to see a special event: an annular solar eclipse, also known as a "ring of fire" eclipse. The main date to look out for is Saturday, October 14, when people in various locations across the globe will be able to see the event at different times.

If you'd like to watch the eclipse in person, we've got advice on how to do that safely. But if you're after an easier option or you're located outside of the viewing regions, there's also a live stream available that will let you watch the event online. More details are below.
What to expect from the Ring of Fire eclipse

Read more
How to watch two astronauts spacewalk to check the ISS for microbes
(June 9, 2023) — NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm while maneuvering a roll-out solar array toward the International Space Station’s truss structure 257 miles above the Pacific Ocean. In the rear, is the SpaceX Dragon crew vehicle that docked to the Harmony module’s forward port on March 3 carrying four SpaceX Crew-6 crew members.

[UPDATE: NASA has called off the spacewalk while it waits for the completion of an investigation into a leak that affected the Nauka module earlier this week. We will update this page with the new schedule once it becomes available.]

This week will see two astronauts perform a spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS) as they collect samples from the station's exterior to use in scientific research. The two astronauts will be NASA's Loral O’Hara and European Space Agency (ESA)'s Andreas Mogensen, and the spacewalk will take place on Thursday, October 12.

Read more
How to watch NASA’s Psyche mission launch to a metal asteroid this week
This artist's-concept illustration depicts the spacecraft of NASA's Psyche mission near the mission's target, the metal asteroid Psyche.

[UPDATE: NASA has called off Thursday's launch due to poor weather conditions and is now targeting Friday, October 13. Full details below]

NASA will launch its latest mission, Psyche, this week. The spacecraft will visit a strange asteroid that is thought to be made almost entirely of metal, studying it to understand more about the formation of planets in our solar system.

Read more