Indian Rocket Launches Four Satellites into Orbit
An Indian rocket successfully orbited a cache of four satellites Wednesday in the first space launch of the year.
Liftoff of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was at 0353 GMT (10:53 p.m. EST Tuesday) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India’s east coast [image]. The four-stage rocket and its payloads arrived in orbit about 16 minutes after launch, and deployment of the satellites was completed about four minutes later.
The booster was shooting for a Sun-synchronous orbit about 395 miles (635 kilometers) high, according to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The 145-foot (44-meter) tall rocket was the first PSLV to use a dual payload adapter to launch two primary payloads on the same mission. The Cartosat 2 Earth-observation satellite rode atop the apparatus, while a recoverable capsule was housed below [image].
Cartosat 2 joins six other spacecraft currently operating in India’s remote sensing satellite fleet, and is the 12th member of the program throughout its history. The 1,500-pound (680-kilogram) craft is a direct follow-on to the larger Cartosat 1 satellite, which was launched in 2005.