Posted: Wed, Apr 20, 2011, 7:07 AM ET (1107 GMT)
An Indian rocket launched a remote sensing satellite and two smaller spacecraft on Wednesday. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on schedule at 12:42 am EDT (0442 GMT, 10:12 am local time) Wednesday. The rocket's primary payload was Resourcesat-2, a 1,206-kilogram remote sensing satellite. The PSLV also carried two smaller experimental satellites, X-Sat from Singapore and Youthsat, a joint Indian-Russian project, with masses of 106 and 92 kilograms, respectively. The rocket placed all three satellites into an 822-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. The launch was the first for India since the failure of a larger GSLV rocket last December.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  The Hindu article
•  BBC article
•  PTI article
•  IANS article