Sriharikota: PSLV-C5, carrying 1360-kg satellite "Resourcesat", zoomed into murky skies from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at 10:24 hours (IST) on October 17.

The launch took place despite heavy downpour which started around 10:00 hours (IST) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Since there were no gusty winds, the launch programme was not changed and the blast took off as scheduled.

PSLV-P5, on its eighth flight, soared majestically into the skies like a blazing arrow carrying on board Resourcesat-1 (IRS-P6) - Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s most sophisticated and the heaviest satellite built so far - from this spindle-shaped island off Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh.

Since its first flight in 1993, the payload capability of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has been progressively improved by more than 600 kg.

The satellite was successfully placed into Sun Synchronous Orbit 10:39 hours (IST), about 17 minutes after lift-off.

It was excitement all over the Satish Dhawan Space Centre where the entire ISRO team clapped their hands, cheered and hugged each other as the 44.4 metre-tall workhorse weighing 294 tonnes, soared into the skies, leaving behind thick columns of flame and fumes.

The satellite will make 14 orbits a day and the life of the mission is five years.

The IRS-P6 carries three cameras but with vastly improved spatial resolutions. It also carries a Solid State Recorder with a capacity of 120 Giga bytes to store the images taken by its cameras which can be read out later to the ground stations.

VVIPs who were present for the launched included Sathyavratha Mukherjee, Minister of State for Space, Ramachandraiah, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Defence, Dr K Kasturirangan, former ISRO chairman and Rajya Sabha member, and Dr U R Rao, former ISRO chairman.

PTI