Yes you read that right. Not 4 not 10, it is 104.
In its thirty-ninth flight on 15th February, 2017, PSLV C-37, the star performer of ISRO blasted off from SDSC(Satish Dhawan Space Center) SHAR(Shriharikota) along with 104 satellites on board. Flight which took off at 09:28 AM IST, took a little less than 29 minutes to place all its 104 passengers in their designated orbits.
The primary payload on board the launcher was CARTOSAT-2 series satellite. Weighing around 714 kg at launch, the satellite is similar to 4 other CARTOSAT satellites currently in orbit. The satellite was injected in 505 km Sun Synchronous Orbit(SSO) and would later be brought to its operational orbit by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor(LAM) of the satellite.
CARTOSAT will provide regular remote sensing services using its Panchromatic and Multi-Spectral cameras. The imagery sent by the satellites will be used for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, utility management like road network networking , water distribution, etc.
Besides CARTOSAT, there were two other Indian passengers on the flight. PSLV C-37 carried two ISRO Nano Satellites(INS). INS-1-A and INS-1-B. Basically INS on board PSLV this time are mainly technology demonstrators having few missions to be carried out by them. INS-1-A had a lift off weight of 8.4 kg while INS-1-B weighed 9.7 kg at lift-off.
101 of 104 satellites launched were from foreign customers. 96 were from USA, 1 each from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and UAE. Together, the foreign satellites weighed 645.9 kg at lift-off.
This mission was special as it was for the first time that so many satellites were being send into space at one go. With such a big number, the complexities associated with the mission increases many-fold. The satellite release mechanism which releases the payloads after reaching the desired orbit, had to be modified and function accurately each of the 104 times. No margin of error at all.
This mission is just an example of the growing stature of ISRO in the space community. ISRO's PSLV is now seen as one of the most trusted launcher in the world for the launch of polar satellites. We are growing very fast and now we are preparing the next two important launch missions. One being the launch mission of GSLV MK-II and other one, the most awaited one, the launch mission of the big daddy, GSLV MK-III.
Stay tuned for more.
Image Credits: ISRO
In its thirty-ninth flight on 15th February, 2017, PSLV C-37, the star performer of ISRO blasted off from SDSC(Satish Dhawan Space Center) SHAR(Shriharikota) along with 104 satellites on board. Flight which took off at 09:28 AM IST, took a little less than 29 minutes to place all its 104 passengers in their designated orbits.
The primary payload on board the launcher was CARTOSAT-2 series satellite. Weighing around 714 kg at launch, the satellite is similar to 4 other CARTOSAT satellites currently in orbit. The satellite was injected in 505 km Sun Synchronous Orbit(SSO) and would later be brought to its operational orbit by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor(LAM) of the satellite.
CARTOSAT will provide regular remote sensing services using its Panchromatic and Multi-Spectral cameras. The imagery sent by the satellites will be used for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, utility management like road network networking , water distribution, etc.
Besides CARTOSAT, there were two other Indian passengers on the flight. PSLV C-37 carried two ISRO Nano Satellites(INS). INS-1-A and INS-1-B. Basically INS on board PSLV this time are mainly technology demonstrators having few missions to be carried out by them. INS-1-A had a lift off weight of 8.4 kg while INS-1-B weighed 9.7 kg at lift-off.
101 of 104 satellites launched were from foreign customers. 96 were from USA, 1 each from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and UAE. Together, the foreign satellites weighed 645.9 kg at lift-off.
This mission was special as it was for the first time that so many satellites were being send into space at one go. With such a big number, the complexities associated with the mission increases many-fold. The satellite release mechanism which releases the payloads after reaching the desired orbit, had to be modified and function accurately each of the 104 times. No margin of error at all.
This mission is just an example of the growing stature of ISRO in the space community. ISRO's PSLV is now seen as one of the most trusted launcher in the world for the launch of polar satellites. We are growing very fast and now we are preparing the next two important launch missions. One being the launch mission of GSLV MK-II and other one, the most awaited one, the launch mission of the big daddy, GSLV MK-III.
Stay tuned for more.
Image Credits: ISRO
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