India's PSLV rocket launches 10 satellites simultaneously

Sriharikota: India's satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C blasted off to space where it launched 10 satellites simultaneously on Monday, officials said.

The PSLV rocket ejected all the satellites within minutes of each other after liftoff at 9.20am (0350 GMT) in clear weather from the Sriharikota space station in southern India, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The rocket first put into orbit the 690-kg remote-sensing Indian satellite, Cartosat-2A. It also launched an 83-kilogram Indian mini-satellite and a cluster of eight so-called nano-satellites, each weighing between 3kg and 16kg, built by research institutions from Europe, Canada and Japan.

The successful launch underlined the nation's emergence as a major competitor in the multi-billion-dollar space market.

'Rocket stuck to path'

"It is a memorable moment for Team ISRO. The rocket stuck to its path without any deviation and delivered all the 10 satellites in their intended orbit," said G. Madhavan Nair, head of India's satellite agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), immediately after the launch.

Mission Director George Koshy said, "The success of this launch has added more responsibility on us for the prestigious Chandrayaan/moon mission."

This is ISRO's second successful launch this year after January when it launched an Israeli satellite. Monday's launch marked several firsts for ISRO — the first time an ISRO rocket carried 10 satellites at a time, the first time a mini satellite was designed and sent up and the first time the Indian space agency utilised the optimum capacity of the PSLV's core alone configuration.

The flight broke the previous record of eight satellites launched at one go by a Russian rocket, according to Indian news reports.

The two earlier core alone PSLVs carried a payload of 352kgs and 535kgs. The Rs2 billion (Dh189 million) Cartosat-2A is the thirteenth Indian Remote Sensing satellite.

The satellite carries an advanced panchromatic camera that can take pictures with a spatial resolution of about one metre and can cover a land strip of 9.6km.

The mini satellite incorporates many new technologies and has miniaturised subsystems apart from multi and high spectral cameras.

— IANS

How far do you think the Indian space programme has come since it's launch? What, according to you, was it's most memorable event? How do you see the future of the programme?

Congratulations to the ISRO team for taking the country's space dreams to new heights. It is a great feat by the industrious members and they deserve all praise showered upon them and we pray they do more to make India the real 'global leader' of the 21st century.
Ancil
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 29, 2008, 10:36

It's really a great memorable moment. We Indians must be proud of our ISRO team. It will be very good progress for the future of our technology level in the world. Congratulations.
Usha
Trivandrum,India
Posted: April 29, 2008, 08:57

It's a tremendous success for ISRO by launching 10 satellites in one go, and in Indian history this day will be remembered! I wish ISRO all the very best in the upcoming projects!
Samson
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 29, 2008, 08:43

It's wonderful and I congratulate all the ISRO staff on this successful event, you really are a pride to the nation and wishing you many more successes.
Ravi
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 29, 2008, 07:41

India's progress in space programmes is an astounding success story. From a mere launch from a small pay load in the early decades, and now launching ten satellites from its own efforts is a proud moment for all Indians. Developed countries laughed at India when we failed in our attempts but now the story is different.
Mahadev
Bangalore,India
Posted: April 29, 2008, 06:15

India has showed that it will become an important global player and a serious competitor in the multi-billion-dollar space market, and that their know-how in the area of rockets, satellites and telecommunications has made huge progress in the last few years. This trend is going to continue in the next few years. India will surprise us with other dynamic news in this sector there, I'm convinced.
Urs
Uerikon,Switzerland
Posted: April 29, 2008, 02:41