Blast off

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has added another country to its client list for commercial satellite launches after Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C29) put in orbit six Singapore satellites on Wednesday. A core-alone version of the PSLV (without solid strap-ons) took off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, 100 km north of Chennai, at 6 pm on Wednesday. A little more than 18 minutes later, the rocket ejected the 400 kg TeLEOS-1 into a 555 km circular orbit. Soon after the last of the satellites was put in the orbit, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar announced the mission a success.