Chennai: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Kiran Kumar has said that the launch of the PSLV-XL (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL variant), with five British satellites onboard, is the heaviest commercial payload undertaken by the organisation, adding that various nations are coming to them because their launches are commercially viable.
"This is a commercial launch: we are launching five satellites for the UK. This is the fifth dedicated launch for commercial purposes, this is also the heaviest of the commercial payloads we are carrying.
This is commercially effective and that is why people are coming to us," Kumar told media persons.
The PSLV-XL was launched today at 9.58pm IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
The 62.5 hour countdown for the launch had begun on Wednesday at 07.28 AM.
This is second launch by the ISRO in 2015 with the previous one being launch navigation satellite-IRNSS-1D earlier in March. In terms of commercial launch, this is the first one this year.
