NEW DELHI, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- An Indo-French weather satellite and three smaller ones were launched Wednesday, the Indian space agency said.
India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C18 carrying the Megha-Tropiques satellite and its other load blasted off from Sriharikota spaceport in coastal Andhra Pradesh state in south India, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.
The 2,200-pound Megha-Tropiques is part of an Indo-French collaboration to study climatic and atmospheric changes in tropical regions, the report said.
"The whole world is looking at this mission ... many countries around the world are interested to share the data with us," said G. Raju, project director for the Megha-Tropiques at the Indian Space Research Organization, NDTV television channel reported. France provided most of the satellite's hi-tech instruments.
The three other satellites include two designed by Indian students while the third one is from Luxembourg to locate ships on the high seas.
