October 23, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba'an 5, 1422

BANGALORE, Oct 22: India’s space agency launched on Monday the sixth mission of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which took off with three satellites, officials said.

The mission, the second with three satellites on a single rocket, marks another step forward for India in its efforts to cut launch costs by using its own pads and rockets while building a foundation for an export business in launching services.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said in a statement that the mission, PSLV-C3, took off at 0453 GMT from the spaceport at Sriharikota, some 100 km north of the southern city of Chennai along the Bay of Bengal.

The rocket was carrying an Indian technology experiment satellite weighing more than 1,100 kg and two small satellites weighing 92 kg and 94 kg from Germany and Belgium, respectively.

The PSLV, which was first successfully launched in 1994, was developed to place satellites weighing one ton (1,000 kg) or more into polar sun synchronous orbits — which makes the satellite move along the earth’s poles while being aligned with the sun’s position.

The PSLV’s payload capability has risen to 1,200 kg since 1994, when it could carry up to 805 kg into an orbit 820 km from the earth.

India has been using Europe’s Arianspace group to launch its large communications satellites, but has been simultaneously upgrading its capabilities.—Reuters