PSLV-C20 successfully places 7 satellites in orbit
25 Feb 2013
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today successfully launched an Indo-French oceanographic study satellite 'SARAL' and six other foreign mini and micro spacecrafts from Sriharikotta in Andhra Pradesh.
The PSLV-C20 lifted off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at around 6.01 pm, five minutes past the scheduled launch time, and placed the satellites in orbit about 22 minutes later.
The lift-off had to be rescheduled to 6.01 pm, to avoid probability of collision with space debris, ISRO sources said.
The 410-kg SARAL, built by ISRO with payloads - Argos and Altika - from French space agency CNES, will study the ocean surface and environment, based on the principle of radar.
Argos-3 is an element of the Argos system, dedicated to localisation, acquisition and distribution of environmental data.
AltiKa is an innovating Ka-band altimeter system, dedicated to accurate measurement of ocean surface topography. It is envisioned as a successor of RA-2 instrument on board ESA's satellite ENVISAT.
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