The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched a radar-imaging Earth observation satellite into orbit, which is tasked with helping the nation combat disasters.

The blast-off took place at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in the southeastern Andhra Pradesh state on Wednesday.

The PLSV-C48 rocket is carrying India’s RISAT-2BR1 radar reconnaissance satellite. The 628kg radar is designed to produce images to be used in agriculture, forestry and disaster management.

#PSLVC48 lifts off 🚀 with RISAT-2BR1 and 9 commercial satellites of Israel(1),Italy(1),Japan(1) and USA(6) pic.twitter.com/5NPS5wc6bN — All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) 11 декабря 2019 г.

The rocket also carries nine commercial satellites – one from Israel, Italy and Japan, and six from the US.

This was the 50th mission in which this type of rocket was used, and the 75th vehicle mission from Sriharikota.

All satellites have successfully reached their designated orbits, the ISRO said. The space agency also published a photo of India’s reconnaissance satellite separating from its carrier rocket.

#RISAT2BR1 satellite successfully placed in orbit by #PSLVC48Here's a picture of satellite separation captured by onboard camera pic.twitter.com/OssPM4uwsG — ISRO (@isro) 11 декабря 2019 г.

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