The Indian Space Research Organisation on Saturday morning placed the Earth Observation Satellite-06 into the intended orbit through the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV-C54.

It also launched eight other small satellites.

The Earth Observation Satellite-06 is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series. It will provide data about ocean colour, sea surface temperature and wind vector data to be used in oceanography, climatology and meteorological applications.

Thenmozhi Selvi K, project director of the Earth Observation Satellite-06, said that the objective of the Oceansat-3 was to study the biological parameters of the ocean, The New Indian Express reported. The satellite has a mission life of five years, he added.

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PSLV-C54 was launched into space at 11.56 am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota island.

“I am really happy to announce the successful accomplishment of injecting the EOS-06 [Earth Observation satellite] into the intended orbit very precisely,” ISRO chairman S Somanath said. “We also observed that the performance of the rocket in this mission in all stages and functions was exceedingly good.”

The eight nanosatellites launched by the PSLV included ISRO’s Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B), two Thybolt satellites, Anand, and Astrocast (four satellites), reported The Hindu.

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Dhruva Space, a private Hyderabad-based company, developed Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2 satellites that can be used for low data rate communication, reported the Deccan Chronicle.

Low data rate communication enables connection in remote locations for soil monitoring and crop quality on farms, detection and instant notification of leaks on pipelines, availability of parking spaces, supply chain monitoring, and forest fire detection.