PM Modi congratulates Indian space research organisation over launch

NEW DELHI, Nov 7, 2020, HT. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for the successful launch of the 51st mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Saturday. He praised the scientists associated with the mission and said that they had overcome major challenges posed by the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) disease to ensure a timely launch of the vehicle, Hindustan Times reported.

“I congratulate @Isro and India’s space industry for the successful launch of PSLV-C49/EOS-01 Mission today. In the time of COVID-19, our scientists overcame many constraints to meet the deadline,” PM tweeted.

“Nine satellites, including four each from the US and Luxembourg and one from Lithuania, have also been launched in the Mission,” he said in another tweet. The nine customer satellites are from Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (4) and USA (4).

The launch vehicle PSLV-C49 carried India’s latest earth observation satellite (EOS-01) as well as nine satellites from customer nations. The carrier was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 3.12pm.

According to Isro, the customer satellites were launched under a commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), department of space.The EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, the space agency further said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Isro could not undertake its other planned missions this year and this was its first mission of the year 2020.