Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), March 28 (IANS) India successfully put into orbit its fourth navigation satellite with its own rocket on Saturday evening in copybook style.
Exactly at 5.19 p.m., the rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle - (PSLV-C27) standing about 44 metres tall and weighing around 320 tonnes, roared into the bright blue clear evening sky trailing an orange plume.
The expendable rocket had a single but important piece of luggage: the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1D.
The rocket blasted off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, around 80 km from Chennai.
For onlookers the rocket resembled an inverted flare/torch with a long handle as it gathered speed amidst the cheers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials and the media team assembled at the rocket port here.
At the rocket mission control room, Indian space scientists at ISRO were glued to their computer screens watching the rocket escaping the earth's gravitational pull.
The PSLV-C27 ejected the IRNSS-1D around 20 minutes into the flight. Immediately, scientists at the mission control centre were visibly relieved and started clapping happily.
Soon after ejection into orbit, the satellite's solar panels were deployed.
The satellite's control was taken over by the Mission Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka.
The MCF will manage the satellite's orbit raising operations by firing the on-board motors till it is placed in the circular geosynchronous orbit.
The system is similar to the global positioning system (GPS) of the US (24 satellites), Glonass of Russia (24 satellites) and Galileo of Europe (27 satellites), China's Beidou (35 satellites).
While GPS and Glonass are fully functional global systems, the Chinese and the Japanese systems offer regional coverage and Europe's Galileo is yet to be operational.
The IRNSS will provide two types of services - standard positioning service and restricted service. The former is provided to all users and the later is an encrypted service for authorised users.
With this success, India moved closer towards joining a select group of nations with its own satellite navigation system.
In the graph of popularity, 'Namo' played a big role, Modi became the world's No. 1 leader, know the condition of 10 big leaders
Once again, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been revered as a popular leader of the world. Namo's Danka is ringing all over the world. Once again PM Modi remains at number one place in global
Peak will come in Mumbai-Delhi after 5 days: IIT professor claims - 8 lakh cases will come daily in February in the country, the third wave will remain till mid-March
During the third wave of Corona in the country, 1.79 lakh new cases were reported on Sunday. Experts say that the peak of the third wave may come in early February. Then 4 to 8 lakh cases are expected
CUET UG: Technical flaws in CUET are not a setback, no hurry to merge JEE and NEET - UGC Chairman
According to UGC chairman Jagdish Kumar, technical glitches in the initial stages of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) will not affect the expansion plan for the crucial exam, which includes
UP Board: The wait is over, the results of 42080 students of Noida and 52934 of Ghaziabad will be released today
UP Board 10th, 12th Result 2023: 42,080 students of the district have given the board exam. This includes 22,645 high school students and 19,435 intermediate students. After giving the exam, the
Earthquake Warning: Earthquakes can occur anytime in India, NGRI scientist warns
Seismologists in India have become alert due to the devastation caused by the severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the cracks in Uttarkashi before that. According to the chief scientist of
68th Filmfare Awards 2023: Before the start of the Filmfare Awards, know who got the nomination in which category
Today (April 27) evening is very special for the entertainment industry. The 68th Filmfare Awards 2023 is about to begin. Artists will be honored for their talent and stars will walk the red carpet.
High profile stars were partying in the Corona era, Mumbai police raided and ran through the back door
Mumbai: Because of the increasing threat of Corona, the Maharashtra government has announced a night curfew. Some stars of cinema and sports were partying in a club in Mumbai in violation of this
Why are the world's scientists worried about the blazing fire in the Himalayas?
The lush green mountains behind the Naini Lake of Nainital make this city of Uttarakhand more beautiful. But for the past few days, the smoke rising from the forest fire has hidden the mountains and
Dunki Advance Booking: 'Dunki' rang in booking, figure crossed 4 crores, see the collection
Dunki Advance Booking: Shah Rukh Khan is ready to make a splash this year with the film 'Dunki'. After 'Pathan' and 'Jawaan', fans are excited to see him in a comedy role in 'Danky'. One example of
Coronary Stent: Coronary stent is included in the list of essential drugs, and the price is expected to reduce
Taking an important decision, the Union Health Ministry has included Coronary Stents in the list of essential medicines. The move will help in making life-saving medical equipment more affordable.