India on Monday successfully launched the ‘EOS-04’ satellite from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), off Bengal coast in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the four-stage rocket lifted off with the Earth Observation Satellite-04 (EOS-04).

It added two others, a student satellite INSPIRES and a spacecraft dubbed INSAT-2DT.

ISRO said after a smooth countdown of 25 hours 30 minutes, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C52) launch vehicle lifted off at 05:59 hours (Indian Standard Time) in the opening of the launch window.

The important flight events, namely stage and strap-on ignitions, heat shield separation, stages and strap-on separation, satellite injection took place exactly as planned.

After a flight of about 17 minutes 34 seconds, three satellites, namely EOS-04, INSPIREsat-1 and INST-2TD, were injected successfully into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529 kilometres.

The orbit achieved for the satellites is very close to the intended orbits, said an official statement by ISRO.

After separation, the two solar arrays of EOS-04 deployed automatically, and ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite.

In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration, following which it will begin to provide data. 

(Xinhua/NAN)