ISRO to launch 18 missions in next six months

CHENNAI: With the continuing success of PSLV missions, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to take it up a notch and plans to launch 18 missions in the next six months, virtually one every two weeks.nnThe Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday night successfully launched NovaSAR and S1-4 earth observation satellites of the UK-based Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd.nn”We are going to have 18 missions in the next six months, virtually one launch every two weeks,” ISRO chairman K Sivan said in a press release.nnAccording to senior scientists, some of the planned launches include GSAT-11, Chandrayaan-2 moon mission and GSLV-MkIII-D2 missions.nnGSAT-11 is a multi-beam communication satellite, which is expected to be launched from French Guiana.nnChandrayaan-2 is the second mission to the moon in which ISRO will launch the lander carrying a six-wheel rover.nnISRO had successfully launched Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008 which orbited the moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the moon.nnIn Chandrayaan-2, the scientists will make the lander soft land on the moon and deploy the rover to study its surface.nnThe GSLV-MkIII-D2 mission would, for the first time, carry communication payloads. It is targeted at Village Resource Centres in rural areas to bridge the digital divide.nnSource: Press Trust of India