PSLV-C46 takes off successfully with India's earth observation satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro's) workhorse PSLV-C46, carrying RISAT-2B , a radar-imaging earth observation satellite, took off successfully from the Sriharikota space port. The satellite will beef up India’s surveillance capabilities in the sky. After a successful countdown that started at 04:30 a.m. (IST) on Tuesday, the rocket was launched at 05:30 a.m. on Wednesday early morning as scheduled from the the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, near Chennai. About 15 minutes into flight, the rocket placed RISAT-2B into an orbit of about 555 km. Stating that he was extremely happy to announce that PSLV-C46 has successfully injected RISAT-2B in precise orbit, Isro chairman K Sivan said with this mission, the PSLV rocket had crossed the landmark of lofting of 50 tonnes since it started flying. Adding that the PSLV satellite has put into orbit 350 satellites, he said, “The rocket had a piggy back payload, the indigenously developed Vikram computer chip that...