-
-
The hundredth space mission programme of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) took off on Sunday at 9.51 am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
-
-
The historic milestone comes in the form of two foreign satellites that will be put in orbit by ISRO's workhorse PSLV rocket.
-
-
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Minister in Prime Minister Office, V Narayanasamy, were present to witness the launch.
-
-
The rocket carried two foreign satellites - SPOT 6, a French satellite and a Japanese micro satellite called Proiteres.
-
-
Exactly at 9.51 am, the rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C21 (PSLV-C21), standing around 44 metres tall and weighing around 230 tonne, with a one way ticket - hurtled towards the skies ferrying the two foreign satellites - SPOT 6, a French earth observation satellite weighing 712 kg and 15 kg micro satellite Proiteres of Japan.
-
-
India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.
-
-
SPOT-6 is the biggest commercial lift so far since India forayed into the money-spinning commercial satellite launch services after 350kg Agile of Italy was put in orbit in 2007 by PSLV. Twelve other foreign commercial satellites were less than 300 kg. India is expected to earn more than Rs 100 crore from the Sunday's launch.
-
-
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday described ISRO's 100th space mission as "a milestone" following the successful launch of its rocket carrying two foreign satellites.
-
-
From the time of its humble beginnings when it launched the indigenous 'Aryabhatta' in Russia on April 19, 1975, it has been a long and successful odyssey for ISRO.
