ISRO's workhorse launch vehicle PSLV-C47, carrying the 1,625 kg third generation agile advanced earth observation satellite Cartosat-3 and 13 nano satellites from US, blasts off from the SHAR Range today.
After a 26-hour countdown, the 44.4m tall vehicle, lifted off majestically from the Second Launch Pad as scheduled at 0928 hrs, belching orange fumes and with a rumble that shook the earth. The Launch was earlier scheduled for November 25, but was deferred by two days.
Scientists at the Mission Control Centre, including ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan, were watching the course of the flight with bated breadth.About 17 minutes from the lift off, the Cartosat-3, with a mission life of five years, will be first injected into a Polar Sun Synchronous Orbitat an altitude of 509 km with an inclination of 97.5 deg to the equator, which would be followed by the injection of 13 nano satellites in a spanof another eight minutes.
