ISRO all smiles, PSLV puts 4 satellites into orbit

The country today added yet another feather to its cap in space technology when its tenth Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) put four satellites into orbit.

The PSLV-C7 blasted off into space at 9.24 AM from the spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) here, off the Andhra Pradesh coast.

The successful launch comes six months after GSLV-FO2 broke up, deviating from its path 65 seconds after take off.

PSLV C-7 carries four satellites - the 680 kg Indian Remote Sensing Satellite CARTOSAT-2, the 550 kg Space Capsule Recovery Equipment (SRE-1), Indonesia's LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina's six kg nanosatellite, PEHUENSAT-1.

CARTOSAT-2 is the twelfth in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series and carries a state-of-the-art panchromatic camera, with a spatial resolution of one metre and a solid state recorder with a 64 GB storage capacity.

Data from this satellite will find application in cartography at the cadastral level, urban and rural infrastructure development and management, apart from Land Information System and Geographical Information System (GIS).

CARTOSAT-2 was placed in a 635 km high polar Sun Synchronous Orbit.