Article Posted on : - Aug 25, 2011

An artist's conception of Megha Tropiques in orbit. Photo: CNES

BANGALORE (PTI): ISRO plans to launch three nano satellites, including one from Luxembourg, and an advanced weather and climate research satellite, on board PSLV from Sriharikota spaceport next month.

The other two nano "piggy-back" satellites, which would be co-passengers of Megha-Tropiques, are one from SRM University and the other named "Jugnu" is a research spacecraft from IIT Kanpur, ISRO sources told PTI.

The SRM satellite, aimed at monitoring green house gases, is a student-driven research project funded by the university.

Megha-Tropiques is a joint atmospheric mission of ISRO and French National Space Centre (CNES).

Sources said top CNES officials are slated to witness the launch by PSLV, ISRO's work-horse launch vehicle.

Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques denoting tropics in French) will investigate the contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics.