India successfully launched its 16th remote-sensing satellite Oceansat-2 and six nano European satellites in 1,200 seconds with the help of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C-14) from Sriharikota on Wednesday(23 sept.2009)
The launch was carried out as per schedule at 11.51 am and ended at 12.06 pm.
The 44.4-metre tall, 230-tonne Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) freed itself from the launch pad at the spaceport and lifted itself up, lugging the 960-kg Oceansat-2 and the six nano satellites all together weighing 20 kg. Of the six nano satellites, four are from Germany; one is from Switzerland and one from Turkey. The seventh is a big one, India’s Oceansat-2 weighing 960 kg.
Soon after the satellites were put into orbit, Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) satellite tracking centres started monitoring them. 
Seven satellites in 1,200 seconds. The launch is similar to the one in April 2008 when ISRO launched 10 satellites.
“The rocket re-orients itself everytime a satellite is to be placed in orbit. The re-orientation ensures one satellite doesn’t collide with another. The rocket effectively re-orients itself four to five times in the space of one flight,” a scientist explained Oceansat-2, India’s second satellite to study oceans as well as interaction of oceans and atmosphere, is the 16th remote sensing satellite of India. It is in the shape of a cuboid with two solar panels projecting from its sides. The satellite will map fishing zones around India, measure ocean surface windspeeds as well as atmospheric temperature and humidity. In the April 2008 launch, eight nano satellites were built by universities and research institutions in Canada and Germany.
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