A Historic achievement, a prideful moment for all the Indians, as the Indian Space Research Organization has scripted a new leaf in the space exploration across the globe on February 15th, 2017. At 9:30 am in the morning, the Indian Space Research Agency, ISRO, has launched Cartosat-2 Series Satellite alongside with 103 co-passenger satellites in its thirty ninth flight i.e., PSLV-C37 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. From the moment the Mission Readiness Review Committee has given a green signal to carry on with the launch, the countdown for the launch has begun.
PSLV-C37 has successfully launched Cartosat-2 series satellite, along with our two Indian Nano satellites and also with 101 international Nano-satellites. Cartosat-2 series satellite that has a mission life of around 5 years, weighing around 714 kgs, which has been designed for earth observation, has been launched first followed by the two Indian Nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B. Later on that has been followed by launching of the 101 Nano satellites, weighing about 664 kgs after the satellite has reached the Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit within a span of less than 10 minutes of time. [HT Correspondent, ISRO sets Space Record: Highlights of successful launch of Cartosat-2 and 103 other satellites]
Out of the 101 satellites, 96 of them belonged to United States of America, and one each from United Arab Emirates, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands and Kazakhstan. This has been a historic launch across the globe as it surpassed the number of satellites sent into space together in a single mission by any other country. Before this launch by Indian Space Research Agency, Russia has held the title of record to launch 37 satellites in a single mission during its launch in June 2014. Following this India has launch about 20 satellites into the space in a single mission, which took place in June 2015. [U Tejonmayami TNN, ISRO creates history, launches 104 satellites in one go.]
For the launching of the PSLV-C37 the ISRO scientists have used the XL variant, which is considered to be a powerful rocket, previously used for launching of the ambitious Chandrayaan and the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). [HT Correspondent, ISRO sets Space Record: Highlights of successful launch of Cartosat-2 and 103 other satellites] The Cartosat-2 has been equipped with panchromatic and multispectral camera, which will be used for providing remote sensing services analogous to that of its forerunners. The images sent from this satellite will be used for cartographic applications, utility management, and coastal land use of maps, monitoring illegal fishing and piracy issues, land information system and geographical information system. [U Tejonmayami TNN, ISRO creates history, launches 104 satellites in one go.]
The INS-1A and INS-1B are modular Nano satellites that are versatile and are used for envisioning the future science and experimental payload. The US based Nano satellites out of the 96 satellites, 88 satellites are used for taking the photos of the world’s entire landmass everyday. The rest of the 8 satellites belonging to the Spire Global, US are used for the purpose of vessel tracking and weather measurement. The other 5 satellites from different countries such as Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, and Kazakhstan are mostly used as technology demonstrators.
This historic mission has taken a lot of hard work by many people, which has been finally paid off. This has made the Indian Space Research Organization an attractive destination, which is reliable and extremely cost effective for the all the nation who wishes to launch satellites. PSLV is considered to be one of the cheapest available options to launch satellites when compared to other nations launch vehicles such as SpaceX and many others.[Ivan Mehta, ISRO’s Satellite Success Story has only just begun.]
The Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre has said, “ We can also hit centuries, like our cricketers. In other two months the count of the satellites launched will reach 100.” He says that by next year, aside from the GSLV mission, Chandrayaan-2 will be ready to be launched. [U Tejonmayami TNN, ISRO creates history, launches 104 satellites in one go.] While this launch as created a history, yet within 48 hours of launch, Indian Space Organization has showed a remarkable performance by making the GSLV MKIII, which is a homegrown cryogenic test, a success. It has cleared the long duration endurance test at ISRO making India the 6th nation in the world to posses and having mastered the complex cryogenic technology.
GSLV MKIII is India’s first indigenously developed turbo pump engine. It draws its strength by using the liquid hydrogen, which should be at a temperature of -2530C and liquid oxygen. [Express News Service, GSLV MKIII cryogenic test a success 48 hours after ISRO’s historic launch] The Indian Space Story has just begun and it has turned a new leaf in the space exploration and has set a limit, which is high for any other countries to cross in the near future, there by making its place in the history of the world, making India proud.
