PSLV-C38 blasts off with 31 satellites onboard

Sriharikota, June 23 : ISRO’s workhorse rocket PSLV-38 on Friday blasted off from the spaceport here carrying the Cartosat-2 series satellite– a dedicated satellite for the defence forces–along with 30 co-passenger satellites. The total weight of all the satellites carried on-board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is about 955 kg. The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 Nano satellites from 14 countries–Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America–besides a Nano satellite from India.The 28-hour countdown for the launch began at 5.29 am on Thursday. India’s ‘eye in the sky’ is set to become sharper and wider with the launch of a third spacecraft in Cartosat-2 series.The previous satellite in the series had a resolution of 0.8 metres and the images it took on India’s neighbourhood had helped New Delhi carry out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the Line of Control last year, ISRO sources said. The latest remote sensing satellite has a resolution of 0.6 metres, which means it can spot even smaller objects.