Press Release No. 35

12 July 2010

India successfully launches remote sensing satellite

India, on 12 July 2010 successfully launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C-15 carrying a remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B along with four satellites from the Satish Hawn space centre in southern India. The four other satellites are Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite Studsat built by seven engineering students of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in India.

The Indian Space Research Organization has been carrying out multiple launches for several years. In 2008, it set a world record by launching 10 satellites at one go.
Cartosat-2B is India's 17th remote sensing satellite and is meant to augment India’s remote sensing data services along with two other satellites, Cartosat-2 and 2A launched earlier.

The satellites' imagery can be used for preparing detailed forest type maps, tree volume estimation, village/cadastral level crop inventory, town/village settlement mapping and planning for development, rural connectivity, canal alignment, coastal land form, mining monitoring and others. With the launch of Cartosat-2B, India will have 10 remote sensing satellites in orbit.