Indian rocket launches seven satellites

NEW DELHI, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Indian space scientists Wednesday announced the successful launch of seven satellites in a single mission, termed fantastic by the nation's leadership.

The launch came days after India was forced to abort its unmanned Moon mission last month.

The warhorse PSLV C-14 rocket, launched by the Indian Space Research Organization from Sriharikota off the southern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, carried the Ocean Monitoring Satellite Oceansat-2 remote sensing satellite and six smaller ones, all foreign.

All seven satellites were placed in orbit within a span of 1,200 seconds, the Times of India reported.

"This is a fantastic achievement. Once again we have proved that we can do the job precisely," agency Chairman G. Madhavan Nair told the Press Trust of India.

"Whenever we face difficulties, ISRO has always emerged stronger," George Koshy, senior space scientist in-charge of launch vehicles, said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his "deepest appreciation" to the scientists.

ISRO's Tracking and Command Director S.K. Shivakumar announced a command center in Mauritius had picked up the signal from Oceansat-2 soon after it separated from the launch vehicle.

Of the six nano satellites, four are from Germany, one from Switzerland and one from Turkey, the Times of India said.

Oceansat-2, India's second satellite to study oceans and the interaction of oceans and atmosphere, is the 16th remote sensing satellite launched by India.