ISRO to send three satellites on board PSLV early next year

Explaining about the agency's future plans, he told reporters here that ISRO was hoping to sending three satellites on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle early next year.

"Currently it is in the assembling stage. We will be doing the flight testing stage later in January (2011) and we are expecting it to be launched in the first week of February," he said, adding it will be the 16 mission of the PSLV, (PSLV C-16).

The vehicle would carry the Resourcesat-II, Youth Sat, a satellite developed by students of Singapore University, and X-SAT.

Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1. It is intended to replace Resourcesat-1 launched in 2003. The images provided by Resourcesat-1 were used for advanced applications such as vegetation, crop yield and disaster management support.

Besides, he said a heavier communication satellite GSAT-8 which is being jointly developed by Indo-French space agencies would be launched from Arianespace French Guyuana in March-April 2011.

"24 Ku-band transponders will be coming by March 2011.. We have a contract with them (French Guyana)," he said. "After this we will be launching the GSAT-10 and GSAT-9 completing the series," he said, adding that GSAT-10 and GSAT-9 would be communication satellites.

ISRO is also looking at possibilities to launch Megha-tropiques satellite on PSLV-C17 by 2011 which would help to study the tropical climates.

On the Chandrayaan-2 mission, he said they are planning to launch it in 2013-2014. He said that the space agency discussed the matter with French President Nicolas Sarkozy who expressed happiness about the mission.

Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni had visited the ISRO headquarters at Bangalore early this month.

Radhakrishnan said they would also launch the communication satellite GSAT-12 using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle next year.

"We are building it right now.. We are going to launch it from Sriharikota in 2011", he said.