Tuesday, May 3 2005 10:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: The countdown began early this morning (May 3, 2005) for the launch of India's latest remote sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-1 along with a piggyback satellite, HAMSAT, on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C6) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday (May 5, 2005).

The launch is scheduled between 10:19 hrs (IST) and 10:40 hrs (IST).

"The countdown began early this morning," an Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesman told sources.

The 1560-kg CARTOSAT-1 along with 42.5kg HAMSAT would be launched from the newly set up second launching pad.

CARTOSAT-1, 11th satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing series, is intended for cartographic applications and is expected to give a further fillip to remote services by providing imagery with improved spatial resolution.

The data from CARTOSAT-1 is for providing enhanced inputs for large scale mapping applications and newer applications in the urban and rural development, land and water management, disaster assessment, relief planning and various other GIS applications.

HAMSAT is a micro-satellite for providing satellite based Amateur Radio to the national as well as international community of Amateur Radio (HAMs).