ISRO hits 100, PSLV-C21 blasted off successfully

BANGALORE, INDIA: On a cloudy Sunday morning, the historic hundredth mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) turned successful, as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C21 (PSLV-C21), which borne two foreign satellites, lifted off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, bang at 9.51 a.m..

The eventful occasion, which had the launch vehicle carrying SPOT 6, a French satellite and Proiteres, a Japanese micro-satellite, was witnessed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Minister of State in Prime Minister Office, V. Narayanasamy.

"Dr Radhakrishnan and all members of ISRO family, I am delighted to witness the launch of PSLV carrying two foreign satellites. I congratulate the department of space on ISRO's hundredth satellite launch. It is a milestone in our space programme," Dr Singh said.

The founding fathers of the Indian space programme, in the PM's words, were right and he believed that ISRO would scale greater heights. He said the scientists have shown that India could afford to invest in high-technology areas and hoped that the benefits reach the people at large.

Space missions were not a loss for the country and the successes notched up by ISRO were a fitting answer to the questions posed by few whether a country like India could afford costly space programme, the Prime Minister added.

The PSLV-C21 rocket, built at Rs. 75 crore, is expected to deliver SPOT 6 and Proiteres into a 655-km polar orbit. Proiteres is intended to study powered flight of a small satellite by an electric thruster and observe Japan’s Kansai district with a high-resolution camera.

Remote-sensing satellites send back pictures and other data.The SPOT and Indian remote sensing satellites are the two leading earth observation satellite series.

ISRO has been carrying foreign satellites since 1999 initially as an add-on luggage to its own satellite. The successful launch of SPOT-6 would make ISRO's PSLV rocket a strong contender to carry SPOT-7 plannedby French company Astrium SAS soon.

According to ISRO, the satellite launch agreement between Antrix and Astrium is part of the long-term agreement signed between the two agencies in September 2008.

India has the largest constellation of remote-sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions,from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market. With 12 remote sensing/earth observation satellites orbiting in the space, India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market. The 12 satellites are TES, Resourcesat-1,Cartosat-1, -2, -2A and -2B, IMS-1, Risat-2, Oceansat-2, Resourcesat-2,Megha-Tropiques and Risat-1.

(With inputs from IANS)