Nearly 30 satellite launch orders at hand for ISRO's Antrix

Out of the six satellites, the Earth observation satellite, dubbed Telcos-1 is the biggest out of the lot, which weighs around 400 kg.

In a first for ISRO, the engine on the upper stage of the PSLV was shut off and restarted while placing the six Singapore satellites into orbit on Wednesday. Following the launch, all satellites were placed into orbit at 549km altitude, inclined 15° towards the equator. The satellites were deployed one after the other while maintaining a gap of one minute or 20 km distance to avoid collision.

This is the eleventh flight of PSLV in "core-alone" configuration (without the use of solid strap-on motors).

"Despite the weather conditions, the team has been able to pull off a flawless launch".

Soon after the last of the satellites was put in the orbit, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar announced the mission a success. These six satellites were launched as part of the agreement entered into between ST Electronics (Satcom & Sensor Systems), Singapore and Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a government of India company under the Department of Space (DOS).

Satish Dhawan Space Centre director P Kunhikrishnan called it another remarkable achievement amidst concerns of weather conditions. PSLV has successfully launched 57 satellites for customers from overseas including the six Singapore satellites launched today.

It is "a great recognition" for the country that foreign clients are vying to launch their satellites aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar said on Thursday.