ISRO to launch satellite Megha-Tropiques

The satellite would be launched this month-end onboard ISRO's workhorse PSLV from spaceport Sriharikota, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

"The preparations are going on," he said adding the satellite would carry four scientific instruments, developed jointly by ISRO and French national space agency centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) to provide information on rain above the oceans and water vapour content in the atmosphere.

Megha-Tropiques is similar to Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite.

According to ISRO, the agency and CNES were pursuing co-operative programmes since 1993 under which joint satellite missions like Megha-Tropiques were taken up to study the atmosphere and the oceans.

Besides Megha-Tropique, Radhakrishnan said, the PSLV would also carry three nano satellites for monitoring green house gases. While one nano satellite was from Luxembourg, SRM University and IIT Kanpur have developed one each.

To a query, the ISRO chief said the Geo-synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenously-developed cryogenic engine would be launched during "the second quarter of next year."

In December 2010, homegrown launch vehicle GSLV-F06 fitted with Russian cryogenic engine carrying communication satellite GSAT-5P on-board failed in its mission when the rocket was hit by a snag within seconds after lift-off from Sriharikota.