Sriharikota, Sept 23 :
After 18 minutes of blasting off from the Second Launch Pad of the SHAR Range PSLV-C14 successfully put Oceansat-2 in the desired orbit, ISRO scientists clapped and hugged each other with joy at the Mission Control Centre as the screens flashed the sequence of the injection of the satellite in 720 km orbit with an inclination of 98.28 degrees to the equator.
In a flawless and textbook precision mission, the PSLV-C14, in its 16th flight, demonstrated its prowess by placing the 960 Kg Oceansat-2 in the orbit. Of the previous 15 flights during 1993-2009, the PSLV was successful on 14 occasions and had placed 32 spacecrafts (16 Indian and 16 for international customers) in a variety of orbits, proving its reliability and versatility.
Vice-President Hameed Ansari, who also witnessed the launch, congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch. After the launch ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair expressed his satisfaction on the successful completion of the operations.
"We extremely proud in putting together the vehicle and attaining the target on time. The Prime Minister has expressed his best wishes to the successful launch of PSLV Oceansat-2," said Nair. The launch is ISRO's first major satellite launch since Chandrayaan 1.
The Oceansat-2 is ISRO's second in the series of Indian Remote Sensing satellites dedicated to ocean research. The satellite will provide continuity to the applications of Oceansat-1, which was launched in 1999.