PSLV a workhorse launch vehicle for India

A standard PSLV version is 44 metres tall with a lift off weight of 295 tonne and designed to launch 1600 kg satellites in 620 km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 1050 kg satellite into geo-synchronous transfer orbit.

PSLV has become "a more versatile vehicle for launching multiple satellites in polar SSOs, Low Earth Orbits and geosynchronous transfer orbit," ISRO said.

The launch vehicle has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately.

With its variant configurations, PSLV has proved its multi-payload, multi-mission capability in a single launch and its geosynchronous launch capability. 

India launches Resourcesat-2 satellite

Besides Resourscesat-2, the PSLV rocket also launched Youthsat, weighing 92 kg, a joint Indo-Russian nanosatellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. The third satellite was 106-kg X-sat, an image applications spacecraft built by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. This is the first time, ISRO is launching a Singapore-built satellite.

Radhakrishnan said the launch of two foreign satellites showed the PSLV's reliability had been recognised internationally.

"It is a glad moment for the entire ISRO community. ISRO has proved its mettle and the mission performed exceedingly well. Its a reassurance to the nation that the confidence in ISRO is fully justified," Mission Director P Kunhikrishnan said in remarks that summed up the mood of the space scientists who needed the morale booster after the double GSLV failure.

It was anxiety all the way for the Indian space scientists at the Mission Control since the rocket blasted off and injected the satellites into space. Each stage of successful separation was greeted with loud applause.

The Resourscesat-2 with three high resolution cameras on a single platform would capture images that will be useful in assessing the health of crops, monitoring deforestation and water levels in reservoirs and lakes besides the snow-melt in the Himalayas.

ISRO officials said it would help in catering to the national and global data needs to address multiple aspects of resource inventory and monitoring in specific areas of applications including agriculture, water resources, rural development, bio-resources and geological exploration.

Data from the satellite would help in facilitating a variety of applications including disaster management and related activities.

Apart from the three cameras - with high, medium and coarse resolutions, Resourcesat-2 also has two solid state recorders with a capacity of 200 GB each to store images which can be accessed by the ground stations later.

It also carries Automatic Identification System (AIS) from COMDEV, Canada, as an experimental payload for ship surveillance in VHF band to derive position, speed and other information about ships.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and PMO V Narayanaswamy described the successful launch as a landmark event and said the Prime Minister and the government "are with the scientists to do more such work."