Context
ISRO boosted its reputation further when it successfully launched a record 104 satellites in one mission from Sriharikota by relying on its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket
What has happened?
ISRO has successfully launched 104 satellites in one go using PSLV. It accomplished the task in about 12 minutes.
What satellites were launched?
Indian satellites
- An earth observation Cartosat-2 series satellitewhich is used for Earth observation. It will return high resolution images which will warn us against, and help tackle, natural disasters
- Two Nano satellites: The two from India are called INS-1A and INS-1B, which carry 4 different pay loads from the Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems (LEOS) and Space Applications Centre (SAC). These will be used for conducting experiments
US
- 96 were from the U.S.
Remaining countries
- 1 each from the other five countries viz, Israel, the UAE, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Switzerland
Which country held the previous record?
Till now Russia held the record of launching 37 satellites in a single mission, in 2014, while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the U.S. launched 29 satellites in one go in 2013.
Significance of the launch
The launch is particularly significant as ISRO now cements its position as a key player in the lucrative commercial space launch market by providing a cheaper yet highly reliable alternative
PSLV: A workhorse
The PSLV, which created launch history by placing a record 104 spacecraft in their desired orbits, has totally launched 46 Indian spacecraft, most of them Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites. It also launched the Indian Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and is set to launch a private lunar mission for Bengaluru start-up Team Indus in late December this year
Probing other revenue streams
In the interim, ISRO must try to probe other revenue streams like Reusable Launch vehicles like Avatar
Read More: Reusable Launch vehicle System
