Sriharikota, September 23, 2009 PSLV-C14 successfully launches Oceansat-2 satellite

Three days after it celebrated its 16^th birthday, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle named PSLV-C14 roared its way to success from the spaceport at Sriharikota on Wednesday, putting in orbit India’s Oceansat-2 and six nano satellites from abroad. This was the 15^th successful flight of the PSLV in a row. The first PSLV flight took place on September 20, 1993.

It was a spectacular mission on Wednesday when everything went all right for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The countdown was smooth, there was a perfect lift-off at the appointed time of 11.51 a.m., the first stage of the PSLV kicking into life with the brute force of its motor, the vehicle galvanising itself as it climbed into the sky, its four stages igniting and separating on time and the satellites being precisely injected into their orbits.

At the end of 18 minutes of flight, the PSLV’s fourth stage injected Oceansat-2 into orbit at a velocity of 25,000 km an hour at an altitude of about 728 km. Thereafter, spring-loaded action mechanisms catapulted four nano satellites called Cubesat 1, 2, 3 and 4 into orbit one after another. Two more nano satellites named Rubinsat 9.1 and 9.2 remained permanently attached to the PSLV’s fourth stage.

“The PSLV is like a wine. With age, it only improves,” said G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman. He called the mission “a fantastic achievement” and “a thrilling moment for the ISRO team.”  Read More at >>

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