Preparations on for commercial rocket launch

Chennai, May 22 (IANS) Preparations are on at the rocket port in Sriharikota for the launch of a commercial rocket that would carry five satellites -- two from Canada, and one each from France, Germany and Singapore, an official said Thursday.

"Work on the next launch has started. The rocket launch is slated for last week of June. The rocket will put into orbit a French satellite SPOT-7 weighing around 720 kg," M.Y.S. Prasad, director at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS over phone.

It will be the first rocket launch of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, which will assume charge May 26.

The rocket port is in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota around 80 km from here.

Prasad said piggybacking on the main luggage will be four more small satellites - two from Canada and one each from Germany and Singapore.

He said the total liftoff weight of the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be 230 tonne and its total luggage/satellites weight will be around 830 kg.

During the 12th Five-year Plan (2012-2017), the ISRO is planning to have 60 space missions.

ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan had said the space organisation was working at preparing a business model to partner with industries - public and private - so that they have a higher level of participation in the space sector.

The model that the ISRO is looking is for investment, sharing of technology and responsibility and it may take around three or four years to arrive at a model, he said.