Chennai, Sep 22 - The stage is set for the launch Wednesday of the Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for placing into orbit the country's 16th remote sensing satellite, Oceansat-2, and six European nano satellites.

'The countdown is progressing well. The launch window is between 11.51 a.m. and 12.06 p.m. tomorrow. The weather forecast is clear,' ISRO spokesman S. Satish told IANS from the Sriharikota rocket launch centre around 80 km from here.

'We don't expect any last minute thrills or tension,' he added.

The 960 kg Oceansat-2 will be ejected into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth and its moving coverage strip will be able to scan the entire planet.

The orbit is designed in such a way that the satellite will cross Equator at 12 noon near India.

A global leader in remote sensing data, India has so far launched 15 remote sensing satellites, of which nine are still in operation.

Oceansat-1, launched in 1999, is still in service but will slowly go into oblivion.