India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C49 carrying the all-weather earth imaging satellite EOS-01 and nine customer satellites lifted off from the spaceport on Saturday.
The (PSLV-C49/EOS-01) blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 3.12 pm at the end of a 26-hour countdown.
The nine foreign satellites are from: Lithuania (1-R2, technology demonstrator), Luxembourg (4 maritime application satellites by Kleos Space) and the US (4-Lemur multi-mission remote sensing satellites).
The PSLV is a four-stage/engine rocket powered by solid and liquid fuels alternatively with six booster motors strapped on to the first stage to give higher thrust during the initial flight moments.
The lift-off was originally scheduled for 3.02 pm, but was delayed by 10 minutes due to debris on the path of the vehicle, ISRO said.
This is the first mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2020.
The primary passenger of the 44.5 metre tall PSLV-C49 will be the Indian radar imaging satellite EOS-01 (formerly RISAT-2BR2) with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that can shoot pictures in all weather conditions.
The satellite can take pictures day and night and will be useful for surveillance as well as civilian activities.
According to ISRO EOS-01, an earth observation satellite is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
After PSLV-C49, the next one to fly will be PSLV-C50 with the GSAT-12R satellite. It will fly from the second launch pad, S. Somanath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), had told.
"We are targeting PSLV-C50 sometime in December. It needs about 30 days to get ready for another launch after one launch," Somanath had said.
The other Indian satellites that are ready for launch are GISAT, Microsat-2A and GSAT-12R.
The launch of the GISAT-1 satellite slated for March 5 this year was postponed due to technical reasons a day before the launch.
"The GISAT-1 satellite will be carried by a GSLV rocket. The GSLV rocket was dismantled after the launch was called off. The rocket is being refurbished. The rocket`s cryogenic engine has been brought down and it is being readied again," Somanath had said.
According to him, the GSLV carrying GISAT-1 is expected to fly after PSLV-C50.
(With agency inputs)
