Satellite returns intact

In a pathbreaking event heralding its arrival as a space power with capability to recover an orbiting satellite, India on Monday successfully brought back a spacecraft to earth.

In a pathbreaking event heralding its arrival as a space power with capability to recover an orbiting satellite, India on Monday successfully brought back a spacecraft to earth.

It gave a new impetus to the proposed manned mission to space in the next decade.

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Space trek 550-kg space capsule landed in the Bay of Bengal It was retrieved by the Navy and sent to Sriharikota The space capsule, made of mild steel, was in orbit for 12 days

A 550-kg recoverable space capsule that was launched by a home-built rocket on January 10, returned to earth's atmosphere, splashing down in the Bay of Bengal, about 140 km east of Sriharikota at 9.46 am, as planned, Indian Space Research Organisation officials said.

As it re-entered the earth's atmosphere, a parachute system reduced the velocity, and a floatation system kept the capsule, afloat.