In an achievement that definitely puts India in the history books of space missions, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Wednesday used its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) -C34 to inject as many as 20 satellites into orbit in a single mission.
It included two student satellites from Indian universities and 17 foreign satellites.
ISRO had earlier set a world record for the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission when it placed 10 satellites in a PSLV on April 28, 2008. Since then Nasa has placed 29 satellites in 2013 on a single mission and Russia in 2014 launched 33 satellites in one launch.
The 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) took off on its 36th flight at 9.26am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre including its primary payload Cartosat-2 series, which provides remote sensing services, earth observation and imaging satellites from countries US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the space agency, describing the launch as a “monumental” accomplishment.
He tweeted, “20 satellites in a go! @isro continues to break new barriers. Hearty congratulations to our scientists on the monumental accomplishment.”
Cartosat-2 was placed in orbit at 9.44am. With Cartosat-2 weighing 727.5kg, PSLV lifted off a total of 1,288kg into space and began placing the satellites into orbit about 17minutes later.
The Cartosat-2 would be used for Earth observation. According to ISRO, the imagery sent by the satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation and utility management like road networking.
In the final stages of the mission, ISRO also performed two tricky experiments of the same nature. It demonstrated the vehicle’s capability to place satellites in different orbits. The vehicle reignited twice in the demonstration after its fourth and final stage and moved further a few kilometres into another orbit.
ISRO scientists said that the demonstration is for their next mission when they are planning to inject satellites in different orbits using a single rocket.
ISRO began launching foreign satellites on board PSLV in May 1999. Since then, it has gained popularity, as it launched foreign satellites successfully using PSLV by charging only 60% of the fee charged by foreign space agencies. It has so far launched 57 foreign satellites.
In December 2015, when PSLV-C29 injected six Singapore satellites in to orbit, ISRO conducted a major experiment where the fourth stage was reignited and switched off after the satellites were placed in orbit.
Apart from Cartosat-2, the satellites launched on Wednesday include Lapan-A3 from Indonesia, Biros from Germany, M3MSat from Canada, SkySat Gen2-1, a Google-made satellite from USA, GHGSat-D from Canada, 12 Dove satellites from USA, Sathyabamasat from Sathyabhama University, Chennai and Swayam from College of Engineering, Pune.
Source- Time of India; The Hindu
