The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C8 (PSLV-C
has been successfully launched commercially. PSLV is carrying the Italian satellite Agile onboard
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/16538.aspThe PSLV-C8 rocket is set to make its first commercial launch with an Italian astronomical satellite on board from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Sunday.
"Everything is proceeding according to schedule," an ISRO spokesman said, adding that the weather was clear. The 42-hour countdown for the launch of 11th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C8 from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh began on Saturday evening. If all goes well, the rocket will blast off at 1530 hours on Monday.
Apart from the 352-kg Italian satellite AGILE, PSLV-C8 will also carry the Advanced Avionics Module (AAM) weighing 185 kg to test advanced launch vehicle avionics systems like mission computers, navigation and telemetry systems.
PSLV-C8 is configured without the six solid propellant strap-on motors of the rocket's first stage and the propellant in the fourth stage has been reduced by about 400 kg compared to previous flights, ISRO said.
The PSLV, a workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO, has been used in nine consecutive flights till now since the first successful launch in 1994. It will also launch India's first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, during 2008. In its last flight, PSLV-C7 had launched four payloads - the 680-kg CARTOSAT, the 550-kg Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, the 56-kg LAPAN-TUBSAT of Indonesia and the six-kg PEHUENSAT-1 of Argentina
