The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C8 (PSLV-C
has
been successfully launched commercially. PSLV is carrying the
Italian satellite Agile onboard
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/16538.asp
The PSLV-C8 rocket is set to make its first commercial launch with
an Italian astronomical satellite on board from the spaceport of
Sriharikota on Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said
on Sunday.
"Everything is proceeding according to schedule," an ISRO spokesman
said, adding that the weather was clear. The 42-hour countdown for
the launch of 11th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV)-C8 from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre
at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh began on Saturday evening. If all
goes well, the rocket will blast off at 1530 hours on Monday.
Apart from the 352-kg Italian satellite AGILE, PSLV-C8 will also
carry the Advanced Avionics Module (AAM) weighing 185 kg to test
advanced launch vehicle avionics systems like mission computers,
navigation and telemetry systems.
PSLV-C8 is configured without the six solid propellant strap-on
motors of the rocket's first stage and the propellant in the fourth
stage has been reduced by about 400 kg compared to previous
flights, ISRO said.
The PSLV, a workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO, has been used in nine
consecutive flights till now since the first successful launch in
1994. It will also launch India's first mission to the moon,
Chandrayaan-1, during 2008. In its last flight, PSLV-C7 had
launched four payloads - the 680-kg CARTOSAT, the 550-kg Space
Capsule Recovery Experiment, the 56-kg LAPAN-TUBSAT of Indonesia
and the six-kg PEHUENSAT-1 of Argentina
