India successfully launches PSLV

CHENNAI, INDIA:  India successfully launched on Wednesday the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota, around 80 km from here. On a bright morning around 10.15 a.m., the Indian Space Research Organisation's Rs.90 crore rocket - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) - soared towards the heavens.

The rocket ferries three satellites, including the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Resourcesat-2, a move aimed at beefing up its remote sensing capability. Coming after a series of failed attempts this launch was particularly important for ISRO.

The Rs.90-crore PSLV, standing 44 metres tall and weighing 295 tonnes, is a four-stage (engine) rocket powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively.

The first and third stages are fired by solid propellant while the second and fourth stages need liquid propellant.

The rocket carries a total payload of 1,404 kg.

This comprises three satellites - the 1,206 kg Resourcesat-2, the 92 kg joint Indo-Russian mini satellite Youthsat for stellar and atmospheric studies, and a 106 kg mini satellite X-sat for imaging applications, which is built by the Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University.

Built to last for five years, the Rs.140 crore crore Resourcesat-2 will augment ISRO's remote sensing data services. It will replace Resourcesat-1 sent up in 2003. The Rs.140 crore Resourcesat-2 was originally scheduled for launch in January this year but it got postponed to February and later to April.

Apart from carrying three sophisticated cameras, the remote sensing Resourcesat-2 satellite will carry an Automatic Information System (AIS) from COMDEV in Canada for ship surveillance in VHF band to derive position, speed and other information of ships.

"With the launch of Resourcesat-2, ISRO will have 10 remote sensing satellites in orbit- Resourcesat 1, TES, Cartosat 1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS-1, RISAT-2, Oceansat-2," S. Satish, ISRO's director (Publications and Public Relations), told IANS.

With the largest civilian remote sensing satellite constellation in the world, India is a global leader earning a sizeable amount vending imageries in a variety of spatial resolutions, spectral bands and swaths.