PSLV Rocket lanch on 9 Sep 2012 it's 100th Satellite Vehicle Launch

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India today, 9th September 2012, at 04:24 UTC. The rocket carried the French SPOT 6 Earth Observation Satellite as well as the Japanese micro-sat PROITERES. This was the 22nd launch of a PSLV rocket.

Besides buttressing its technological mastery, Indian Space Research Organization, with its latest launch, has cemented its place in among the space-faring nations as a sought-after commercial launcher. ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation has received several requests from foreign countries to launch their satellites for a price.

Antrix Corporation Limited, incorporated as a private limited company owned by Government of India in September 1992 as a Marketing arm of ISRO, offers complete commercial booster rocket services through the operational launch vehicles (PSLV and GSLV) and a wide array of space services, including satellite remote sensing.

India is planning the launch of the Mangalyaan mission in November 2013 to orbit the planet Mars beginning in September 2014.  If this mission would become successful, India will become the third nation in the world to reach Mars before Asian powers China and Japan which earlier had failed attempts.

The PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and carries 139 tonnes of propellant. A cluster of six strap-ons attached to the first stage motor, four of which are ignited on the ground and two are air-lit.This is launching two satellites , Launch of PSLV-C21 Carrying French Satellite SPOT 6 and Japanese Satellite PROITERES   PSLV-C21 will inject SPOT-6 and PROITERES satellites into an orbit of 655 km altitude at an inclination of 98.23^o.

Typical Parameters of PSLV : 
Lift-off weight : 295 tonne
Pay Load  : 1600 kg in to 620 km Polar Orbit, 1060 kg in to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Height  : 44 metres

India is also planning Chandrayaan-2, a second lunar orbiter and two landing rovers built domestically and another by Russia. The second Indian moon mission, however, appears delayed until 2016 because of the Russian-made moon landing craft. The Chandrayaan-1,  a lunar orbiter and an impactor, operated for less than 1-year between October 2008 and August 2009 but provided a major boost to India's space program and national technological pride.