India to launch two foreign satellites mid September

Chennai: The Indian space agency is gearing up for the launch of two foreign satellites next month, said a top official on Wednesday.

"The PSLV-C21 (the polar satellite launch vehicle) will launch a remote-sensing satellite from France and a small Japanese satellite as co-passenger during the second week of September," K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told reporters in Chennai.

The 800-kg French satellite is called SPOT-6 and is built by Astrium SAS. The Japanese satellite Protiers weighs 15 kg.

The mission will take ISRO\'s total tally of ferrying foreign satellites to 29.

Interestingly, the PSLV rocket will be carrying the heaviest foreign satellite (SPOT-6) for a fee after the 350-kg Italian satellite Agile.

As the total luggage will be around 815 kg, ISRO will be using its Core Alone variant of PSLV (rocket without its six strap on motors).

The mission will take ISRO's total tally of ferrying foreign satellites to 29.

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