India successfully launches an Israeli spy satellite, from Sriharikota (island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh in India) space station, AP. Sriharikota is used by the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch satellites using multi-stage rockets such as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. This clear shows that India is eager to compete in the world space technology market which is worth multi-billion-dollar industry.
The launch of the Tecsar satellite by an Indian-made rocket was carried out in clear weather at 9:15 am local time from the Sriharikota space station in southern India, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
The 300-kilogramsatellite, sometimes referred to as the Polaris, was steered into orbit about 20 minutes later, said Antrix Corporation, the marketing arm of the Bangalore-based space agency. It is the second commercial launch of a foreign satellite by India, which sent into space an Italian satellite in April last year.
India wants to join and compete with the United States, Russia, China, the Ukraine and the European Space Agency in offering commercial satellite launch services, a market worth up to 2.5 billion dollars a year.
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