India will launch its remote-sensing satellite, the IRS 1D, aboard the country's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 1997, and has cancelled its $14 million order for a launch by the Russian Molniya rocket.
The PSLV had been declared operational after launching the IRS P3 satellite in March. It had already placed the IRS P2 into orbit and lost the IRS P1 in a maiden launch failure.
The former Soviet Union launched the IRS 1A and 1B satellites on Vostok boosters in 1988 and 1991, while a Russian Molniya booster launched the IRS 1C in 1995. These commercial launches were worth over $30 million.
The PSLV is scheduled to launch five more IRS satellites to 2000.
Source: Flight International