On September 9, 2012 the Indian Space Research
Organisation will launch its hundredth mission. Over a period of 49 years, the
space agency has sent up 63 satellites and 37 launchers, made indigenously.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in-charge of Space and Atomic Energy,
will be at Sriharikota on September 9 to watch the launch of a Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C21) that will put French remote-sensing satellite SPOT-6
and Japanese micro-satellite PROITERES in orbit.
The ISRO says it will be a routine, no-frills
event, with just two foreign commercial launches going on board the PSLV-C21.
It will not carry an Indian satellite.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will witness the
milestone event scheduled for 9.50 a.m. at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota. Confirming this, ISRO spokesman Devi Prasad Karnik , “There will
be no celebrations, but yes, the Prime Minister will be there.”
Atal Behari Vajpayee was the last Prime
Minister to witness a launch — that of the ISRO Oceansat-1 on May 26, 1999; Dr.
Singh has visited the site on another occasion.
The PSLV-C21 will put in orbit a 712-kg French
remote sensing satellite, SPOT-6, and a 15-kg Japanese microsatellite. They
will be placed in polar slots (where the satellites move from pole to pole) at
a distance of 655 km from the Earth’s surface.
