ISRO launches PSLV-C18, places weather satellite in orbit

INDIAN Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully placed Indo-French satellite Megha Tropiques and three nano satellites in orbit with the launch of PSLV-C18 rocket from Sriharikota this morning.

The three nano satellites are VesselSat1-1 from Luxembourg, SRMSat from SRM University, Chennai, and Jugnu from IIT, Kanpur

 The Indo-French satellite Megha-Tropiques placed in orbit as part of a key mission will help understand global tropical weather, ISRO said.

All four satellites were injected into orbit one after another in clockwork precision about 26 minutes after PSLV lifted off  at 11 am.

ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan described the mission as ‘a grand success.’

Speaking to scientists after the launch, he said: “PSLV—C18 has been a grand success. Very precisely, four satellites were injected in space orbit and the difference between what we planned and what we achieved is just two km over an altitude of 867 km.

News reports said the rocket first injected the 1000-kg Megha-Tropiques satellite into an orbit of 867 km altitude at an inclination of 20 degrees with respect to the equator.

Megha-Tropiques carries three payloads — two by French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) and one jointly by ISRO and CNES — and a complementary scientific instrument. ISRO has built the satellite at a cost of Rs. 80 crore with “equal contribution” from CNES, reports added.

Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques denoting tropics in French) will investigate the contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics. Data from the weather satellite will benefit all countries in the Indian Ocean region.