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"As ISRO's 100th space mission, today's
launch is a milestone in our nation's space capabilities,"
the prime minister said after the launch.
Exactly at 9.53 a.m., Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle-C21 (PSLV-C21), 44 metres tall and weighing
around 230 tonne, with a one-way ticket, hurtled
itself towards the skies ferrying the two satellites
- SPOT 6, a 712-kg French earth observation satellite,
and Proiteres, a 15-kg Japanese micro satellite.
The PSLV, costing around Rs.90 crore, blasted
off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota,
around 80 km from Chennai.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
has now completed its 100th mission since the
launch of its first satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975
by a Russian rocket.
With a rich orange flame at its tail and plume
of white smoke, PSLV-C21 ascended towards the
sky amid cheers of ISRO scientists and media team
assembled at the launch centre.
People perched atop nearby buildings too clapped
as the rocket went up.
Scientists at ISRO's new mission control room
were glued to their computer screens watching
the rocket escape the earth's gravitational pull.
At around 18 minutes into the flight, PSLV-C21
delivered SPOT 6 and a few seconds later Proiteres
into their intended polar orbits.
On the successful ejection of the satellites,
scientists at mission control were visibly relieved
and started clapping.
Manmohan Singh, who along with Minister in Prime
Minister's Office, V. Narayanasamy, witnessed
the launch, congratulated ISRO scientists and
engineers and EADS Astrium of France and Osaka
Institute of Technology of Japan for the successful
launch of their satellites.
"Questions are sometimes asked about whether
a poor country like India can afford a space programme
and whether the funds spent on space exploration,
albeit modest, could be better utilised elsewhere.
"This misses the point that a nation's state
of development is finally a product of its technological
prowess," the prime minister said.
The remote sensing satellites send back pictures
and other data.
SPOT 6 is the heaviest foreign satellite to be
carried by a PSLV since 1999 when ISRO started
launching satellites of foreign agencies.
Proiteres will study powered flight of another
satellite and observe Japan's Kansai district
with a high-resolution camera.
Speaking to reporters later, ISRO Chairman K.
Radhakrishnan said discussions were on with the
French space agency to carry SPOT 7, a similar
remote sensing satellite slated for launch soon.
He said there were 13 more satellites of similar
class and some other satellites could go as co-passengers
to the main cargo that ISRO/Antrix Corporation
(ISRO's commercial arm) would target.
Declining to reveal the carriage fee received
from French and Japanese agencies for launching
their satellites, Radhakrishnan said the mission
revenue had recovered the rocket's cost.
Agreeing that there was a two-minute delay in
the rocket's lift off (the scheduled time was
9.51 a.m.), Radhakrishnan said it was to avoid
possible space debris impacts.
He said ISRO had decided to set up a Multi Object
Tracking Radar (MOTR) to track space debris and
time its rocket launches precisely.
ISRO was also planning to have a second vehicle
(rocket) assembly building to increase launch
frequency, he said.
ISRO would also build two more communication
satellites - GSAT 15 and GSAT 16 - to augment
its transponder (transmitters that receive and
send signals) capacity, he added.
Till date, ISRO has successfully launched 27
foreign satellites and the Sunday mission took
the tally to 29.
(IANS)
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