Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): Indo-French oceanographic study satellite 'SARAL' and six foreign mini and micro spacecrafts were succesfully launched on Monday evening by ISRO's PSLV-C20 rocket from the spaceport at Sriharikota.
Indian Space Research Organisation's(ISRO) workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV) lifted off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at around 6 pm at the end of the 59-hour countdown and placed in the orbit the satellites about 22 minutes later. President Pranab Mukherjee witnessed the launch from the mission control centre at Sriharikota, about 110 km from Chennai.
The lift-off was rescheduled to 6.01 pm, a five-minute delay, to avoid probability of collision with space debris, a normal precautionary step in a launch mission, ISRO sources said.
The 410-kg SARAL with payloads - Argos and Altika - from French space agency CNES is meant for study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions....
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06:09 PM, Feb 25, 2013
