Thursday, May 5 2005 11:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sriharikota (AP): In a text book launch, Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) today (May 5, 2005) successfully placed India's heaviest remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-1 and lightweight HAMSAT into orbit, 18 minutes after the PSLV-C6 blasted off from the newly set up Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The PSLV, in its ninth flight, majestically soared into the sky at 10:14 hrs (IST) and placed the two satellites in the 618 KM Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at 10:32 hrs (IST).

President A P J Kalam, who witnessed the launch, congratulated the scientists for the successful mission.

In his initial comments, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said the entire system was working perfectly.

The 1560 kg CARTOSAT will be used for mapping applications while the 42.5 kg HAMSAT, a micro-satellite, is meant for amateur radio services.

The four stages of PSVL ignited on schedule and jettisoned with clockwise precision. Eighteen minutes after the lift off, the fourth twin engine liquid stage first injected CARTOSAT-1 and 30 seconds later HAMSAT into the SSO.

With the two satellites entering the orbit, there was an all round celebration with the scientists of the ISRO, clapping their hands and hugging each other.

The Rs 400 crore state-of-the-art second launch pad, which will augment frequency of launches, was dedicated to the nation last night (May 4, 2005) by Kalam.

This is for the first time that the ISRO had launched two satellites in a single flight of PSLV from Sriharikota.

The CARTOSAT-1, India's 11th remote sensing satellite, is expected to give further impetus to cadastral level applications with its high resolution imageries.

It carries two state-of-the-art panchromatic cameras that will take black and white stereoscopic pictures of the earth in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. It is the first satellite to carry two cameras to take 3-D images.

The data can be used for updating topographic maps, besides generation of largescale topographic maps.

The mission life of CARTOSAT-1 is five years and the project cost is estimated at about Rs.250 crore.

The HAMSAT, whose mission life is two years, will meet the long felt need of the Amateur Radio Operators in the South Asian region who possess the required equipment and operate in the UHF/VHF band based satellite radio communication and it is ISRO's first theme-based micro-satellite.

This satellite is expected to play a valuable role to provide low cost readily accessible reliable means of communication during emergencies and calamities.