104 satellites in a single launch are something incredible by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). That single launch was on February 15, 2017, onboard PSLV-C37. That was a phenomenal record. 104 satellites from a single rocket were in fact, a milestone for most of the other countries. This comes under India’s low-cost space-exploration program. But that was not the last time for ISRO launching multiple satellites in a single launch. Next, it was on June 23, 2017. On that day it was 31 satellites on board PSLV-C38. That makes it a total tally of 135 satellites. Out of these 135, 5 of them belong to India and the rest 130 belong to various countries. In fact, these 130 satellites were from 19 countries. Those include USA, UAE, UK, Holland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, and Japan.
Source: ISRO
The two Indian Cartosat-2 series satellites will orbit around the Sun in a synchronous manner. These will have a lifespan of 5 years. The key objective of these satellites is to send high-resolution images of earth’s surface. These images will help a lot on cartography, utility management, urban & rural development, infrastructure planning, management of natural resources, and disaster management. That is, in fact, a great boon for the country from Indian Space Research Organization. May 5, 2017, is another memorable day in this regard. It was the launch of 2230 kg satellite GSAT-9. The launch of this South Asia Satellite was by GSLV-F09 i.e. India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-II. Similarly, on June 5, 2017, was the launch of the GSAT-19 satellite with the help of India’s first developmental flight GSLV MKIII-D1. It was the first orbital mission of India’s heavy-lift launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III.
Indian Space Research Organization Is A Great Boon To The Country
As a matter of fact, GSAT-19 is the heaviest satellite in Indian history. It weighs 3136 kg. Going a little further, on Jun 29, 2017, it was the launch of India’s third communication satellite, GSAT-17. Though its launch was not from the Indian soil. it was from Kourou, French Guiana using the European Ariane 5 Launch Vehicle. AstroSat completes two years in orbit. It is India’s multi-wavelength space telescope. Similarly, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) achieves another landmark by completing three years on September 24, 2017, in its orbit. That period of three years is well beyond its initial design mission life of 6 months. It keeps delivering extremely useful data of Mars surface and its atmosphere. In fact, ISRO website has a great collection of images, data, and papers.By now, Indian Space Research Organization has launched 226 satellites into orbit. 180 out of these 226 are from foreign soils.
