Sriharikota:  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) this morning put into orbit the Emisat, an electronic intelligence satellite for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in a copy book style.

The notable aspects of this space mission were the flying of a new variant of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV); switching off and on the fourth stage engine couple of times; and the use of the fourth stage as an orbital platform carrying three experimental payloads.

At 9.27 am, the PSLV rocket standing at 44.5 metres tall and weighing about 239 tonne with a one-way ticket, hurtled itself towards the skies ferrying the Emisat and 28 international customer satellites — 24 from the US, two from Lithuania and one each from Spain  and Switzerland.

With the fierce orange flame at its tail lighting, the rocket slowly gathered speed and went up enthralling the people at the rocket port while the rocket’s engine noise like a rolling thunder adding to the thrill.

“It is a special mission for us. We will be using a PSLV rocket with four strap-on motors. Further, for the first time we will be trying to orbit the rocket at three different altitudes,” ISRO Chairman K. Siva n said. The PSLV is a four-stage engine expendable rocket with alternating solid and liquid fuel.

In its normal configuration, the rocket will have six strap-on motors hugging it’s first stage. On Jan. 24, the ISRO flew a PSLV with two strap-on motors while in March, it had four strap-on motors. The space agency also has two more PSLV variants — Core Alone (without any strap-on motors) and the larger PSLV-XL.