Game changer: ISRO uses PSLV fourth stage as orbital platform

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday for the first time used the fourth stage of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle as an orbital platform with deployed solar panels to carry out experiments using seven Indian payloads embedded in it.

- PURAN CHOUDHARY

Normally, the fourth stage of a rocket becomes a part of space debris orbiting the earth, or falls down to earth as junk, after releasing the satellites in their space orbits. But ISRO's experiment, initiated on Saturday after launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh, at 2.19 pm, is a game-changer, using the fourth stage to orbit with the embedded payloads within to allow ground-based space scientists to control the experiments on them through commands.