ISRO scientists meet Manmohan Singh

{image-pm mamnokjh2222_05052008.jpg news.oneindia.in}New Delhi, May 5: After the landmark success of putting ten satellites into orbit from a single space platform, a panel of scientists from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today. The delegation, led by ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, presented Dr. Singh with a miniature of the PSLV C-9 which had carried ten satellites into space on April 29. It was for the first time that the ISRO had attempted to put into orbit ten satellites from one space platform.

On its 13th flight, 230-tonne Polar Satellite launch vehicle, PSLV-C9 carried 690-kg Cartosat-2A, an 83 kg indigenous mini satellite called IMS-1 along with eight foreign nano satellites from Canada and Germany and other countries from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Cartosat-2A has a panchromatic camera designed to provide imagery with one meter spatial resolution and a swathe of 9.6 km to spot objects measuring the same size. The new satellite is also capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery for cartographic and other applications.

The mini satellite IMS-1 will provide a platform for trying out new technologies, which will be useful for future missions of ISRO. The space agency said that the mini satellite will operate in the visible and near infrared areas of the electro-magnetic spectrum and data from this mission would be made available to developing countries.

The eight nano-satellites, built by Canada and Germany-based universities and research institutions, on board have been launched under a deal with Antrix Corporation, the space agency's commercial wing. Their weight varies from 3 to 16 kg with a total weight of about 50 kg.

ANI