PSLV C23, carrying five satellites, launched successfully from Sriharikota

ISRO’s PSLV C23 was launched on 30 June 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 9.52 am. The PSLV C23 carried five satellites belonging to four countries namely France, Germany, Canada and Singapore.

All these five satellites were launched under commercial arrangements that ANTRIX (ISRO’s commercial arm) has entered with the respective foreign agencies.

Earlier, the launch time was fixed at 9.49 am IST but was launched with a delay of 3 minutes due to probability of space debris movement during the launch window.

On its way, PSLV C23 will separate all five satellites, one by one into their intended orbit and these satellites are
• The French Earth observation satellite SPOT-7 of 714 kg which is similar to Indian Remote Sensing System (IRSS)
• 14 kg AISAT of Germany
• NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) & NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada weighing 15 kg and the 7 kg respectively are from University of Toronto, Institute of Aerospace studies/Space Flight Laboratory
• VELOX-1 of Singapore from Nanyang Technological University and is a technology demonstrator for design of image sensor, MEMS-based determination and control system and inter-satellite RF link

Till date, ISRO has launched 35 satellites of foreign countries onboard its workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).