This will certainly be a proud moment for India when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will blast off 103 satellites, a record number, that too on a single go in February this year. 100 out of the total 103 satellites are foreign, including the US and Germany, while 3 are Indian.
ISRO will carry out the launch in the first week of February in a record feat which has not been attempted by any country in the world yet. ISRO’s workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 will carry the satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
“We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go,” S. Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the ISRO, told a plenary session on the second day of the ongoing Indian Science Congress. “These will be 100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) -C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kgs, of which 500-600 kgs will be the satellite’s weight,” Mr Somnath added.
Earlier, ISRO had plans to launch 83 satellites in the last week of January out of which 80 were foreign. But then 20 more foreign satellites were added and hence the launch was delayed by a week. But now, the launch will take place in the first week of February.
Last year, ISRO launched record 20 satellites under the single mission. In 2014, Russia has set a record by launching 37 satellites in a go. The US launched 29 satellites, the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission after Russia.
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi’s pet South Asian satellite project will kick off in March this year. M. Nageshwara Rao, Associate Director of ISRO said, the South Asian satellite will be a part of GSAT-9.
The communication satellite was scheduled to be launched in December 2016 but was delayed. The satellite will not only benefit India but also Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
ISRO Aims For World Record With Launching 103 Satellites in Single Lift
