Countdown begins for PSLV-C18 launch

To be launched tomorrow, it will put 4 satellites in orbit

The PSLV-C18, which is scheduled to lift off on Wednesday, stands on the launch pad at the spaceport at Sriharikota. Photo courtesy: ISRO

The countdown for the lift-off of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C18) began at Sriharikota at 9 a.m. on Monday. The rocket is scheduled to be launched at 11 a.m., Wednesday and it will put in orbit four satellites.

They are the Megha-Tropiques satellite, SRMSat, Jugnu and VesselSat.

S. Satish, spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organisation, said the Launch Authorisation Board, which met at Sriharikota on October 9, cleared the launch of the four-stage PSLV- C18 and “various activities during the 50-hour countdown are progressing smoothly.”

Hundreds of mandatory checks on the launch vehicle and the satellite will take place. Batteries will be charged. The readiness of ground systems including communication networks and the radars for tracking the satellites will be checked.