PSLV is 16 and going strong

PSLV C-14 blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, 90 km from Nellore, on Wednesday. The rocket put into orbit the 960-kg Oceansat-2 and six smaller foreign satellites within a space of 20 minutes.


Sriharikota
Sept. 23: It was a sweet 16th birthday on Wednesday for India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The first PSLV was launched on September 23, 1993 from Sriharikota but unfortunately it burnt down into the Bay of Bengal. Old-timers recall with mixed emotions the sight of a weeping G. Madhavan Nair, the then mission director, who was hugged and consoled by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
“In 16 years, we had 15 successive and successful PSLV launches,” said Dr Nair. He said over the years PSLV has emerged as an internationally acclaimed satellite launch vehicle that is as reliable as European Space Agency’s Ariane, USA’s Delta and Russia’s Soyuz rockets.
That India has emerged as a global player became clear when the Isro chairman said Sriharikota could see four PSLV launches every year from 2010