ISRO launches earth monitoring satellite
Sriharikota(AP), Nov 29: Space agency ISRO's trusted workhorse rocket PSLV-C43 blasted off from here Thursday carrying India's earth observation satellite HysIS along with 30 satellites from eight countries.
The 28-hour countdown for the launch began at 5.58 AM on Wednesday and the rocket blasted off at 9.58 am Thursday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 110 km from Chennai, the space agency said.
The Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS), an earth observation satellite developed by ISRO, is the primary satellite of the PSLV-C43 mission.
The mass of the spacecraft is about 380 kg, ISRO said, adding that the satellite would be placed in 636 km-polar sun synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.957 degree.
The primary goal of HysIS, whose mission life is five years, is to study the earth's surface in visible near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The co-passengers of HysIS include 1 micro and 29 nano satellites from eight countries--23 from the United States of America and one each from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Spain.
All these satellites have been commercially contracted for launch through ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited.
All the satellites would be placed in a 504 km orbit by PSLV-C43, the space agency said.
PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages.
PSLV-C43, which is the 45th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), is the 'Core Alone' version of PSLV. It is the lightest version of the launch vehicle.
This is ISRO's second launch in the month. The space agency had launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-29 on board GSLV MkIII-D2 on November 14.
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India-bound LPG tanker clears Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 tonnes of LPG and staffed by 20 crew, including 18 Indians, cleared the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said.
The cargo -- enough to meet half a days requirement of the country -- will partly tide over supply constraints being faced since the start of the West Asia conflict more than two months back.
Ship-tracking data showed its position in Oman Gulf on Sunday evening.
The very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since a weeks-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to almost zero.
There are as many as 14 Indian flagged or India-owned vessels still stranded on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
India has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal with no congestion reported, the statement added.
