The Hindu Business Line : A space odyssey to help urban, rural planners

A PERFECT LAUNCH: ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C6, carrying a remote sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-1 and a micro satellite HAMSAT, blasting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Thursday. - Shaju John

Chennai , May 5

PLANNERS will have high quality data to help them manage natural resources and plan urban and rural development with the launch of Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) CARTOSAT-I, a remote sensing satellite with superior imaging capabilities.

ISRO also placed in space HAMSAT, a micro satellite, which will improve communications between amateur radio operators, popularly called HAMS.

The satellites were carried into space and placed in orbit 630 km above the earth by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C6, which blasted off at 10.15 a.m. on Thursday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota, about 80 km north of Chennai. Twenty minutes later it put the two satellites in space, a procedure that the scientists said went off perfectly.

The President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who witnessed the launch, congratulated the ISRO scientists for the excellent performance. India's capabilities in space technology has come a long way since 1980 when its launch vehicles carried payloads of about 40 kg, which has now been increased to 1,500 kg, he said.

Addressing presspersons after the launch, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, said that it was the 20th launch of a satellite from the Sriharikota island. "The launch took place precisely and on the dot." The satellite is in place as planned and "I do not have any anomalies report," he said.

This meant that the satellites would operate well beyond their planned lifecycles — five years for the CARTOSAT-I and two years for HAMSAT. CARTOSAT is unique because of its stereo imaging capabilities due to its two cameras that will help generate three-dimensional images of the earth's surface. The images will help generate elevation maps for urban and rural development, land and water resources management and environmental impact assessment.

The launch was the first from a new launch complex, which the President dedicated to the nation on Wednesday. This complex includes a vehicle assembly building where the launch vehicle is put together and then is wheeled out on rails to a launch pad one kilometre away. The assembly building is built to accommodate various types of launch vehicles and is expected to meet ISRO's requirements for the next two decades, scientists said.

Mr Nair said that the new facility enables ISRO to increase the number of launches. Earlier, it could launch three rockets a year but now the turnaround time would come down and enable it to double the number of launches. So apart from the three needed to meet India's own requirements, the additional capacity could be exploited commercially for use by other countries.

To those watching the launch it was an exciting moment as the 294-tonne PSLV thrust into space rising on a plume of fire and smoke. People standing on terraces of buildings a few kilometres away from the launch site first saw the rocket emerge from behind a stand of trees, silent and accelerating continuously. By the time the thunderous boom of the exhaust reached them the rocket was several kilometres in the air leaving behind it a dense trail from the burning propellants. Scientists said it was travelling about six km per second before it put its satellites into orbit.

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