Thursday, May 5 2005 18:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sriharikota: India today (May 5, 2005) achieved another milestone in the field of space technology with the PSLV-C6 successfully placing the country's heaviest remote sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-1, and HAMSAT in the polar sun synchronous orbit, about 18 minutes after the lift off at 10.15 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The CARTOSAT, weighing 1560 kg, is the highest payload that the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle had launched so far in its nine flights and it was for the first time that two Indian satellites were put in the orbit by a single launch vehicle.

President A P J Abdul Kalam witnessed the launch from the mission control centre, as the PSLV-C6 soared into the sky in a spectacular and textbook lift off from the Rs 400 crore newly built state-of-the art second launch pad, which he dedicated to the nation yesterday (May 4, 2005) night.

Kalam, who himself had been behind many rocket launches, congratulated the scientists on their feat. "The country is proud of you," he told them.

Declaring the mission a success, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said, "It's a heartening mission. This is the first flight from the second launch pad. We were working against all odds, sun, rain and wind."

The launch was advanced by four minutes to avoid debris of old satellites in the orbit and the PSLV-C6 lifted off with the ignition of the core first stage and four of the six strap-on motors.

The remaining two strap on motors ignited 25 seconds after the lift off, ISRO officials said.