ISRO gears up for launch of Megha-Tropiques

Chennai, Oct 7 (PTI) Final preparations are on for the
October 12 launch of Indo-French 'Megha-Tropiques' satellite
that would study tropical climate, from spaceport of
Sriharikota, about 90 km from south Indian state Tamil Nadu's
capital city.
Integration of Megha-Tropiques and three nano satellites,
that would be launched by ISRO's workhorse PSLV-C18, with the
rocket had been completed, ISRO spokesperson S Sathish said.
"PSLV C 18 is scheduled to be launched on October 12 at 11
am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The
countdown will start on Monday morning (October 10)," he told
PTI.
Megha-Tropiques would carry three payloads - two by
France's space agency CNES and one jointly by ISRO and CNES -
and a complementary scientific instrument.
ISRO has built the Megha-Tropiques spacecraft at a cost of
Rs 80 crore, along with an "equal contribution" from CNES.
The satellite with a five-year life will investigate the
contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to
climate dynamics.
The three nano satellites are one each from Luxembourg,
IIT-Kanpur and SRM University, Chennai.
IIT-Kanpur has indigenously built Nano satellite 'Jugnu',
which will help in gathering information regarding flood,
drought and disaster management.
The data received from 'Jugnu' will be studied with the
help of a tracking system installed at IIT-K and the received
pictures and information from it will be used for research
purpose, Head of mechanical department NS Vyas, the visionary
man behind the making of the nano-satellite, said in Kanpur.
This would be the fourth ISRO mission this year including
one launched from French Guyana. PTI DSJ
MNS