Oceansat-2, 6 nanosats successfully placed in orbit

Vijay Karthik

Sriharikota (AP), Sept 23 (PTI) ISRO today placed in orbit seven satellites including Oceansat-2 within a span of 20 minutes, its first successful mission after the abrupt end of the ambitious Chandrayaan-I project.

At the end of the 51-hour countdown, the 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-C14 blasted off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here with ignition of the core first stage and put the satellites in orbit one after another.

Scientists cheered as ISRO's workhorse, PSLV soared majestically into clear skies at 11.51 AM from the spaceport in the East Coast in Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km north of Chennai,with the launch watched by Vice President Hamid Ansari

Oceansat-2, the country's 16th remote sensing satellite, will identify potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting and coastal zone studies, besides providing inputs on weather forecasting and climate studies.

India to launch Oceansat-2 on Sep 23: ISRO

Bangalore

Bangalore, Sept 16 (PTI) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would launch Oceansat-2 satellite, which would help identify potential fishing zones and in coastal zone studies, on September 23 in a mission that would have European flavour.

The 970-KG spacecraft would set-off by the home-grown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota spaceport on the east coast, where preparations for the launch are in full swing.

"Oceansat-2 is tentatively scheduled to be launched at around noon on September 23," S Satish, spokesperson of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, told PTI.

ISRO officials said the launch is expected at 11.56 AM on that day.

The satellite is intended for identification of potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies and providing inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies.

It is an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, launched by ISRO in May 1999 and was used to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography.

PTI