spacetoday.net: PSLV launches seven satellites

Posted: Mon, Feb 25, 2013, 8:33 PM ET (0133 GMT)
PSLV launch of SARAL (ISRO)

An Indian rocket successfully launched seven satellites on Monday, including a small satellite to look for near Earth objects and an experimental "phonesat". The PSLV lifted off from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 7:31 am EST (1231 GMT, 6:01 pm local time) Monday and placed its payload of seven satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits. The rocket's primary payload was SARAL, a 409-kilogram Indo-French satellite designed to perform oceanographic and meteorological research. The rocket also carried six secondary payloads, including the Canadian satellites Sapphire and NEOSSat, which will perform space situational awareness and near Earth object searches, respectively. The other four satellites were nanosatelltes designed for astronomy and technology demonstration, including the British STRaND-1 satellite, whose systems are based on smartphone technology.