India: Successfully Launches 3 Satellites
By KUNA
India on Wednesday successfully launched three satellites from a spaceport in southern state Andhra Pradesh, namely – RESOURCESAT-2 satellite, the joint Indo-Russian YOUTHSAT satellite, and Singapore’s first satellite X-SAT, said an official release issued by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
In a congratulatory note to the Indian scientists, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that the flawless launch of the three satellites had demonstrated yet again the advanced capabilities that the ISRO has mastered in satellite development and launch vehicle technologies.
The satellites were launched in India’s own-built ‘PSLV-C16’ rocket.
The RESOURSCESAT-2 satellite is fitted with three high-resolution cameras on a single platform. It is capable of capturing images that will be useful in assessing the health of crops, monitoring deforestation and water levels in reservoirs and lakes besides the snow-melt in the Himalayas mountains.
It would also help in catering to regional and global data needs to address multiple aspects of resource inventory and monitoring in specific areas of applications, including agriculture, water resources, rural-development, bio-resources and geological exploration.
Data from the satellite would facilitate a variety of applications, including disaster management and related activities.
Besides RESOURSCESAT-2, the PSLV rocket launched two foreign-made satellites also. Weighing 92 kg, ‘YOUTHSAT’ is a joint Indo-Russian nano-satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. The third satellite was 106-kg X-SAT, an image applications spacecraft built by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
