PSLV C 44

About: 

1. Microsat-R: Microsat-R, an imaging satellite weighing 740-kg, is meant for military purposes, but the ISRO did not give any details about it. 
   
   
2. Kalamsat: 
   1. Kalamsat is an experimental satellite for studying the communication system of nano satellites, which can be useful in many fields, predominantly disaster management. 
      
      
   2. It is contributed by college students and the members of a Chennai-based organisation -- Space Kidz India. 
      
      
   3. Kalamsat was the lightest ever satellite to be launched by India (It is a ten cm cube weighing one kilogram). 
      
      
   
   
   

Key significant events: 

1. The PSLV-C44 was the first mission of a new variant of the PSLV, called the PSLV-DL, as it was equipped with two strap-on configurations. Usually, PSLVs were launched without any strap-ons (boosters) or were equipped with six strap-ons fixed around the rocket. 
   
   
2. Kalamsat is the first to use PS4 (the fourth stage of the vehicle) as a platform to orbit around the earth. With this launch, India became the first country to use the fourth stage of a space rocket as an orbital platform for micro-gravity experiments. 
   
   
3. For the first time, the ISRO placed a satellite -- Microsat-R -- in a lower orbit, at around 274 kms from earth.