- After a two-month delay, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) will be launched around April 10 to put Resourcesat-2 and two other satellites into orbit.
- The PSLV-C16 was to have lifted off from Sriharikota in the first week of February, but the failure of the Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) on December 25, 2010, and the S-band spectrum scam that hit the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) this year have cast a long shadow over it.
- The PSLV-C16 will put into orbit three satellites: the ISRO's 1,200-kg Resourcesat-2; the 93-kg Youthsat, with a payload from Russia and two payloads from India; and the 103-kg X-Sat from Nangyang Technological University of Singapore. Resourcesat-2 is a continuation of Resourcesat-1, which was put into orbit on October 17, 2003. Resourcesat-1 is going strong, though it has lasted more than its mission life of five years. The images of the Resourcesat-2 will help in monitoring the health of crops, estimating crop yield, keeping a tab on deforestation and locating the groundwater. Youthsat is meant for studying the effects of the sun on the earth's upper atmosphere.
- Two ISRO payloads in Youthsat are from the Space Physics Laboratory of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, and the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.
- The X-Sat is a technology demonstrator with remote-sensing and communication payloads.
- A standard PSLV version, which weighs 295 tonnes at lift-off and is 44 metres long, will put these satellites in orbit. The satellites will be mated with the rocket in April.
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