India has successfully launched an indigenously built all-weather radar imaging satellite RISAT-1 on Thursday.

The new satellite will improve the country’s remote sensing capabilities and facilitate agriculture and disaster management. India joints the elite club of nations having indigenous radar imaging technology with the launch of RISAT-1 on Thursday.

PS Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram pointed out that only the US, Canada, Japan and the European consortium possessed the technology until now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed the launch as an important milestone in India's space programme.

Dr. Singh also congratulated the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists for achieving the feat in the complex technological mission. RISAT-1 has the capability to take images of Earth during day and night, as well as in cloudy conditions. India was dependent on a Canadian satellite for data.

The satellite weighing 1,858kg was injected into precise orbit by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C-19. The PSLV delivered the satellite about 19 minutes after the perfect launch of the vehicle at 5.47am from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

This is the 20th consecutive successful flight for the impressive PSLV of the ISRO. The RISAT-1 is the heaviest satellite ever delivered by the vehicle to the orbit. ISRO chief K Radhakrishanan has described the mission as a grand success.