India’s Space Agency Poised For Historic Milestone On Sunday : Report

New Delhi, Sept 9, IRNA – India’s space program is poised for a historic milestone on Sunday when ISRO's workhorse PSLV rocket will put two foreign satellites in orbit in the agency's 100th mission from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 110 km from Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state. ISRO’s 100th mission will carry French advanced remote sensing satellite 720 kg SPOT-6 and its 15 kg Japanese micro satellite PROITERES. The mission is without any Indian satellite, pti reported. SPOT-6 is the biggest commercial lift so far since India forayed into the money-spinning commercial satellite launch services after 350kg Agile of Italy was put in orbit in 2007 by PSLV. Twelve other foreign commercial satellites were less than 300 kg. France's five earlier SPOT satellites were launched by European Araine rocket. SPOT-6, built by ASTRIUM SAS, a subsidiary of EADS, France, is an earth observation satellite, while PROITERES, developed by students and faculty of Osaka Institute of Technology, will study Kansai region of Japanese island of Honshu. ISRO is the primary space agency of the Indian government and is amongst the six largest government space agencies in the world. Established in 1969, ISRO has achieved numerous milestones since its establishment. Over the years, ISRO has conducted a variety of operations for both Indian and foreign clients. ISRO's satellite launch capability is mostly provided by indigenous launch vehicles and launch sites. In 2008, ISRO successfully launched its first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, while future plans include indigenous development of GSLV, manned space missions, further lunar exploration, and interplanetary probes. ISRO has several field installations as assets, and cooperates with the international community as a part of several bilateral and multilateral agreements./end