Space agency ISRO this morning successfully sent up a rocket carrying India's 100th satellite along with 30 others, four months after failed launch. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV lifted off at 9.29 am from Sriharikota an island a few hundred kilometer from Chennai.
A key component that had failed in August worked this time, causing scientists to gasp in relief at having crossed a major hurdle.
The lift-off was postponed by a minute because of fear of collision with space debris.
31 Satellites were launched in two orbits. Thirty of the satellites were launched in an orbit 550 km about, and one 359-km above the Earth. This was done through what scientists call the "multiple burn technology" under which the rocket's engine is switched off and then switched on to control its height. The whole process of placing the satellites in two orbits will take 2 hours 21 minutes -- the longest so far.