Chennai: The country''s first dedicated commercial rocket will fly from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on 23rd April 3.30 pm with the 350kg Italian satellite Agile.

The Indian Space Research Organisation''s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C8) will place Agile on equatorial orbit to conduct X-ray and Gamma ray astronomical tests.

Riding piggyback will be India''s advanced avionic module (AAM) as the secondary payload. As the total payload will be just 535kg the PSLV C8 will be thrust upwards by its core motor alone. There will not be six strap on motors carrying 10kg fuel- the normal configuration of PSLV. As a consequence the launch vehicle costs around Rs68 crore against the usual Rs80 crore.

The Agile launch has been arranged by the German launch services company, Cosmos International, while the satellite is owned by the Italian Space Agency.