India places sharp eye in the Earth's orbit
India yesterday successfully launched its latest Earth observation satellite and 30 other micro and nano-satellites of eight countries into their designated orbits.
The Indian Space Research Organization's trusted workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C43 carrying the total of 31 satellites blasted off into a cloudy sky in a burst of orange flames from a launch pad at Sriharikota spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh culminating a 28-hour countdown.
The Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS), fitted with the sharpest camera developed by ISRO, was placed in its orbit 636km above the Earth 17 minutes and 27 seconds after lift-off while the 30 co-passenger satellites were put into the designated orbit one by one after an hour.
The data from the HysIS, the latest Earth observation satellite developed by ISRO, has uses across a range of areas including agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zone studies, inland water studies, environmental monitoring and pollution detection from industries.
Yesterday's launch is significant as scientists restarted the fourth stage engine twice to place the 30 co-passenger satellites into their orbit. These satellites are one micro and 29 nano satellites from eight countries--23 from the United States of America and one each from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Spain.
After the Indian Earth observation satellite was placed in its orbit, the ISRO scientists undertook an operation to restart the fourth stage engine twice.
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