PSLV- C34 took off on its 36th flight at 9.26 am.
AB Wire
The Indian Space research organization (ISRO) created history by launching 20 satellites including 17 foreign satellites in a single mission on Wednesday from Satish Dhavan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) took off on its 36th flight at 9.26 am with satellites including its primary payload Cartosat-2 and earth observation and imaging satellites from US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. It was also 14th flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration with the use of solid strap-on motors.
Cartosat-2 Series is similar to the earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B, and was placed in orbit at 9.44am.
The images sent by Cartosat will be useful for cartographic, urban, rural, coastal land use, water distribution and other applications.
ISRO also demonstrated the vehicle’s capability to place satellites in different orbits. In the demonstration that took place in the final stages of the mission, the vehicle reignited twice after its fourth and final stage and moved further a few kilometers into another orbit.
In the next mission scientists are planning to inject satellites in different orbits using a single rocket.
In 2008, ISRO set a world record for highest number of satellites launched in a single mission when it placed 10 satellites with the PSLV rocket.
In 2013 NASA placed 29 satellites in a single mission and Russia in 2014 launched 33 satellites in one launch. India has launched 57 foreign satellites successfully till date.
Social Media Updates:
#WATCH: ISRO successfully launches record 20 satellites from Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh)https://t.co/l3UlbcoIu5
— ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2016
20 satellites in a go! @isro continues to break new barriers. Hearty congratulations to our scientists on the monumental accomplishment.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 22, 2016