Countdown begins for ISRO's PSLV C-29 launch

The fifty nine hour countdown for the launch of six Singaporean satellites from using the launch vehicle PSLV-C29 began at 7 am today at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta, India’s spaceport. The satellites are set to be put into polar synchronous orbits on Wednesday evening at 6 pm.

Indian Space Research Organization spokesperson Dr Deviprasad Karnik told AIR, this would be the sixth exclusive commercial launch by India's space agency. The total weight of all



the six satellites will be 625 kg including the main payload TeLEOS that weighs 400 kg.

TeLEOS is the first Singaporean earth observation satellite with the life span of five years. Two payloads are micro-satellites and three still smaller nano-satellites, developed by the Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore. India has so far successfully put into orbit 51 foreign satellites, all using the PSLV launch vehicle.