|
Countdown begins for 100th Indian rocket
mission
Friday September 07, 2012 12:21:17 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
Chennai: The 51-hour
countdown for the 100th mission of the Indian space agency, slated
for Sep 9, began Friday at 6.51 a.m. at the Sriharikota satellite
launch centre in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from here, an
official said.
Carrying French and Japanese satellites, an Indian rocket - Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) - will blast off at 9.51 a.m.
Sunday.
"The countdown started at 6.51 a.m. and is progressing normally.
Everything normal now," an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
official told IANS.
During the countdown, liquid fuel in the fourth stage/engine and
also in the control systems would be filled. On Saturday the fuel
for the second stage/engine will be filled, the official said.
The 715-kg French satellite, SPOT 6, which is an earth observation
satellite, will be the heaviest foreign satellite to be launched
so far by PSLV.
The Japanese satellite weighing 15 kg is called Proiteres.
ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation and French company
Astrium SAS compete in the global market for vending remote
sensing satellite imageries.
The SPOT and Indian remote sensing satellites are the two leading
earth observation satellite series.
According to ISRO, the satellite launch agreement between Antrix
and Astrium is part of a long-term agreement signed between the
two agencies Sep 2008.
In November 2010, a communication satellite HYLAS was built for a
European customer under an agreement between Antrix and Astrium.
The PSLV rocket has successfully launched a total of 53 satellites
out of 54 it has carried; ISRO has launched all its 27 foreign
satellites successfully.
According to ISRO, India has built 62 satellites and launched 37
rockets, starting from its first satellite Aryabhatta and rocket
satellite launch vehicle (SLV).
"ISRO counts each of its rocket flights as a single mission. If
our satellite is launched by a foreign rocket then it is counted
as single mission. Whereas if an Indian rocket (PSLV) launches
multiple satellites built and owned by ISRO then each satellite is
counted individually as a mission," an ISRO official said.
Launching foreign satellites or those owned by other Indian
organisations are not counted as a mission.
The Sunday flight of PSLV will be counted as single mission.
According to ISRO officials, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
expected to witness the 100th mission at Sriharikota. He will
reach the launch centre Saturday evening.
India began its space journey in 1975 with the launch of
Aryabhatta satellite using a Russian rocket.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
i |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
More Headlines |
|
Bosnia war witness says paramilitary raped
Muslims |
|
Saeed Ajmal becomes No.1 ranked ODI bowler |
|
Tension in Assam's Udalguri after youth's body found |
|
Rajasthan warns teachers on smoking, tobacco consumption |
|
'Education system not keeping pace with
evolving technology' |
|
Engineering students vandalize vehicles in Gurgaon |
|
Court notice on pre-primary classes in
state-run schools |
|
Sachin Pilot first serving minister to join Territorial Army |
|
SC reserves verdict on Amit Shah's bail in Sohrabuddin case |
|
E-books, e-library - for your reading pleasure |
|
Ministers who matter in Manmohan's cabinet |
|
Scientists working on safe male contraceptive |
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
Parliament disrupted for 12th consecutive day
Parliament
was repeatedly disrupted for the 12th day Thursday and adjourned
as the BJP continued its protest over coal blocks allocations and
the Samajwadi Party kept up its opposition to the bill on quota in
promotions
»
Scuffles, brawls in parliament, state
assemblies
SP, BSP MPs scuffle over promotion quota bill
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 SC reserves verdict on Amit Shah's bail in Sohrabuddin case
The Supreme
Court Thursday reserved its order on a CBI plea for cancelling the
bail of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah in the 2005 Sohrabuddin
Sheikh staged shootout and transferring
»
|
|
Russia-Saudi Arabia: A growing strain
Relations between Russia and Saudi
Arabia, which have never been cloudless, are quite tense today,
something that seems unlikely to change in the foreseeable future,
says a RIA Novosti commentary from Moscow. This is not just
because of their conflicting approaches to resolving the crisis in
Syria. The reason is that Moscow and Riyadh
»
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 Maoists numbers, military potential increasing: Shinde
Stating that
Maoist cadres in the country were gaining in strength, union Home
Minister Sushilkumar Shinde warned Thursday that they were
displaying the military potential to form new battalions.
»
|
|
India revives NAM tune amid Iranian PR hoopla
The 16th NAM summit in Tehran last week was touted as a diplomatic
coup by a sanctions-hit Iran to fight back its international
isolation. But amid all that Iranian public relations hoopla and
high-voltage photo-ops
»
|
|
Government to set up 10 community colleges for skill development
The government will set up 10 community colleges in collaboration
with Canadian educational institutes to educate illiterate adults
and provide skill-based training for employment, Human
»
|
|
115 killed in Syria: Report
An anti-government organisation has claimed the Syrian
military Wednesday killed at least 115 people in a massacre in
Aleppo province. The Syrian Local Coordination Committees, an
umbrella organisation of 14 anti-government groups »
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
President
Pranab Mukherjee presenting the National Award for
Teacher-2011 to Mrs. Javeeda Akhtar Khan, Jammu & Kashmir, on
the occasion of the ‘Teachers Day’, in New Delhi on September
05, 2012. Union Minister for Human Resource Development and
Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal and
Minister of State for External Affairs and Human Resource
Development E. Ahamed are also seen. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links