India has successfully launched its advanced weather satellite INSAT-3D from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana early this morning.
European space consortium Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket launched INSAT-3D and Alphasat satellites. This will be the first Geo-Stationary sounder system over the Indian Ocean.
Minutes after the launch, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan said that the Master Control Facility at Hassan in India has received signals from INSAT-3D.
According to ISRO, INSAT-3D adds a new dimension to weather monitoring through its atmospheric sounding system, which provides vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and integrated ozone from surface to top of the atmosphere.