India recently launched a rocket carrying seven satellites from various countries into space with Earth climate and asteroid-monitoring capabilities.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the launch on Feb. 25. The satellites launched included two each from Canada and Austria and one from Denmark and Britain. India and the French also collaborated on a satellite.
ISRO said the Indo-French satellite will carry two climate tools developed for analyzing ocean current and sea surface heights.
The Canadian satellites (CanX-3 BRITE and Sapphire), which the Canadian Space Agency call "sentinel in the sky," will circle the globe every 100 minutes, scanning space to pinpoint asteroids that may come close to Earth and watch over brighter stars that we commonly use on Earth to connect the dots in constellations.
Information from the satellites could help deflect asteroids whose trajectory might threaten Earth, Canadian space officials say.
Earlier this month, an asteroid shot past but fairly close to Earth on the same day a much smaller, previously undetected meteor hit Russia, injuring over 1,000 people and leaving widespread damage.
The Austrian satellite (TUGSat-1 BRITE), a first for the small country, will investigate bright stars by watching the changes in brightness using a technique called photometry (measuring visible light).
The Denmark satellite (AAUSat 3) will test the capabilities of automatic identification of ships (AIS) technology, following the beacons that ships are required to send out with information about their cargo and destination. Most of the testing will focus on the water around Greenland.
And the Britain-developed satellite (STRaND-1) will broadcast the sound of human screams into space to see if anyone nearby can hear them. Also, the satellite makers will be testing how well the satellite is controlled by a smartphone.
India's rocket launch is part of an expanding national space program that includes an unmanned Mars trip and plans for 10 space voyages in 2013.
In 2008, the ISRO successfully launched 10 satellites in a single mission.
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