Article Posted on : - Sep 11, 2011

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

BANGALORE (PTI): India's top space agency on Saturday said the launch date of the Indo-French 'Megha-Tropiques' mission to study tropical climate, is slated for October 12.

"October 12th 11 o'clock is our target (for the launch) at the moment," ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, who is also Secretary in the Department of Space and Space Commission, told reporters here. It will be launched from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO on Saturday held a pre-shipment review of Megha-Tropiques craft, weighing about 1,000 kgs, that has undergone all ground tests.

Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques denoting tropics in French), would be launched by India's workhorse rocket, the Rs 90-crore PSLV (C18).

The satellite, with a five year life, will investigate the contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics.