25-hour countdown commences for launch of RISAT-2B

A 25-hour countdown began Tuesday for the launch of India's all-weather radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2B on-board Polar rocket from the spaceport of Sriharihota, the ISRO said.

The workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, on its 48th mission, PSLV-C46, is scheduled for lift-off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, over 130 km from here, at 5.30 am Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The 615 kg satellite, meant for applications in fields such as surveillance, agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, will be released into orbit about 15 minutes after lift-off.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan described the mission as "very very important" but did not elaborate.

"Tomorrow morning at 5.30 am, we are going to have the PSLV-C46 mission which is going to launch satellite RISAT 2B and this is very very important mission for India...It is an excellent satellite with hi-fi earth observation ...