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The 1,350 kilogram (2,980 pound) orbiter, also known as ‘Mangalyaan’, is slated to blast off as early as Oct. 28 atop India’s highly reliable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from a seaside launch pad in Srihanikota, India. ... NASA is providing key communications and navigation support to ISRO and MOM through the agency’s trio of huge tracking antennas in the Deep Space Network (DSN). As India’s initial mission to Mars, ISRO says that the mission’s objectives are both technological and scientific to demonstrate the nation’s capability to design an interplanetary mission and carry out fundamental Red Planet research with a...

The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted off smoothly from a launch pad in southern Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission of exploration. The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals. The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia. It was greeted with applause by scientists gathered at the site. The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says there has been a lot of excitement about the event, which was broadcast...

India To Launch Israeli Spy Sat Move Highlights Improving Relationship By BARBARA OPALL-ROME, TEL AVIV And K.S. JAYARAMAN, NEW DELHI November 14, 2005 In a controversial break from a longstanding military space policy of strategic self-reliance, Israel has decided to launch its next spy satellite aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rather than its own indigenous Shavit rocket. Officials here say Israel’s Ministry of Defense and state-owned satellite producer Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are wrapping up the political and contractual agreements with their Indian counterparts for the planned October 2006 launch of TechSAR, Israel’s first synthetic aperture radar imaging...