NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday launched a PSLV-C23 rocket carrying five satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota while Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the ISRO to develop a satellite which will serve all the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations.
The main part of the 765kg payload of the rocket is France’s 714kg Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7.
It also carried a smaller spacecraft from Germany, two from Canada and another one from Singapore.
Modi asks Indian space scientists to develop SAARC satellite
In his address to the Indian space scientists in Sriharikota after the successful launch of the PSLV-C23 rocket, the Indian prime minister said the fruits of India’s space missions should reach other developing nations, especially India’s neighbours.
“You should develop a SAARC satellite,” Modi told the scientists.
“We should dedicate this satellite to our neighbourhood as India’s gift … India is rooted in our age-old ethos of ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakom’. Our space science reflects that. We should share the fruit of this with our neighbouring countries,” the Indian premier said.
