The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched communication satellite CMS-01 on Thursday afternoon.

The organisation took to Twitter to confirm that launch
vehicle PSLV-C50 carrying the satellite lifted off from the
spaceport of Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota, on Thursday afternoon and the
satellite ‘successfully separated from fourth stage of PSLV-C50 and injected into orbit.’

ISRO
launched a 25-hour countdown at 14:41 hours on Wednesday and said that the launch vehicle
was scheduled for lift-off at 15:41 hours on Thursday ‘subject to weather
conditions’.

‘PSLV-CMS-01
Mission: Countdown for the launch of PSLV-C50/CMS01 mission commenced on
Wednesday at 1441hrs from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR Sriharikota,’ ISRO said.

CMS-01 is now India’s 42nd communication satellite
and will replace GSAT-12 satellite that was launched in 2011. The satellite, which has a life span of seven years, will provide
services in the Extended-C Band of the frequency spectrum which covers the Indian mainland, Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands.

Today’s launch was ISRO’s last launch of 2020.

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Last month, EOS-01 and nine
international customer satellites were successfully launched from the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre. EOS-01, which is an earth observation satellite, was envisaged for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.

‘The nine customer satellites from Lithuania
(1), Luxembourg (4) and USA (4) were launched under a commercial arrangement
with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL),’ ISRO had said.