Capping a year of successful launches, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched PSLV-C36 carrying the Remote Sensing Satellite RESOURCESAT-2A from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Wednesday, the space agency has said.

The 44.4 metre tall PSLV C36 will place the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A into an 827 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in about 18 minutes after lift off.

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The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C36, in its 38th flight, was blasted off at 10:24 am from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, about 125 km from Chennai.

The mission life of the satellite is five years. RESOURCESAT-2A is a remote sensing satellite developed by ISRO and succeeds RESOURCESAT-1 and RESOURCESAT-2 launched in 2003 and 2011.

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It is intended to continue the remote sensing data services to global users and would carry similar payloads as carried by its predecessors RESOURCESAT-1 and RESOURCESAT-2.

RESOURCESAT-2A is carrying a high resolution linear imaging self scanner camera, medium resolution LISS-3 camera and an advanced wide field sensor camera that operates in various bands.

It is also carrying two solid state recorders with a capacity of 200 GB to store the images taken by the cameras, which can be shared with ground stations.

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A trusted workhorse of the space agency, PSLV has launched satellites in various orbits including sun synchronous orbit, low earth orbits, geosynchronous transfer orbit and sub-GTO, registering 36 successful launches so far.

Between 1994 and 2016, PSLV has successfully launched 121 satellites of which 79 are from overseas and the rest Indian, ISRO said.

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On September 8, ISRO launched advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR onboard GSLV-F05, tasting success on the maiden operational flight of its heavy-duty rocket fitted with the indigenous cryogenic upper stage.

On September 26, in its longest ever mission spread over two hours, PSLV successfully launched eight satellites, including the country’s SCATSAT-1 and five satellites from other nations, in two different orbits to achieve another milestone.

GSAT-18, India’s communication satellite, was launched on October 6 by a heavy-duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.