SRIHARIKOTA: The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C-15 carrying remote sensing Cartosat-2B along with four satellites blasted off from the spaceport near here on Monday morning.
The rocket soared into skies in clear weather leaving behind plumes of smoke.
It will place four satellites into orbit, including Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite Studsat built by seven engineering students of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The countdown started on Saturday morning for the launch of the 44-metre tall, 230-tonne PSLV.
ISRO has been carrying out multiple launches for several years. In 2008, it set a world record by launching 10 satellites at one go.
Built to last for five years, the Rs.200-crore Cartosat-2B is India's 17th remote sensing satellite and is meant to augment ISRO's remote sensing data services along with two other satellites, Cartosat-2 and 2A launched earlier.
The satellites' imagery can be used for preparing detailed forest type maps, tree volume estimation, village/cadastral level crop inventory, town/village settlement mapping and planning for development, rural connectivity, canal alignment, coastal land form, mining monitoring and others.
"With the launch of Cartosat-2B, ISRO will have 10 remote sensing satellites in orbit - IRS 1D, Resourcesat 1, TES, Cartosat 1, 2 and 2A, IMS 1, RISAT-2, Oceansat 1 and 2," Satish, the director for publications and public relations, said.
India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market, earning a sizeable amount.
"The other remote sensing satellites that are slated for launch are RISAT (end of 2010 or early 2011), Resourcesat and Megha-Tropiques," Satish added.
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