India Wants To Launch Your Satellite
Posted on: Monday, 28 April 2008, 15:00 CDT
NEW DELHI -- India may still be battling widespread poverty and hunger but the fast-changing nation is also rocketing into the modern age in more ways than one.
On Monday, the country successfully fired off a massive rocket that launched 10 new satellites into orbit. The launch carried the heaviest load and biggest number of satellites ever put into orbit in a single mission, eclipsing a previous Russian record, scientists said.
The launch is a point of pride for the Indian Space Research Organization, which aims to claim a growing share of the world's billion a year satellite launch market. Monday's launch carried Canadian, Japanese, Dutch, Danish and German research satellites as well as two satellites from India itself, including one intended to aid the country with high-resolution mapping.
The South Asian giant, which put its first satellite into space in 1980, made its first successful commercial launch last year, firing an Italian satellite into orbit. It has since helped Israel put up a satellite as well. India's 45-year-old space organization also regularly blasts its own satellites into space from an island launch pad in southern India's Andhra Pradesh state.
As one might expect from a nation that has excelled at winning outsourcing contracts with cut-rate prices, India's space agency also offers relatively cheap rates, a third lower than most of its competitors. Experts say that savings should keep business growing for the country's increasingly reliable looking space effort. lgoering@tribune.com
Source: Chicago Tribune
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