15 Feb, 2017 01:01 PM

ISRO launches 104 satellites

ISRO created a world record with the successful launch of 104 satellites in one go from a single rocket on Wednesday at 10:30 am; a feat that has not been achieved by any. The country that comes second is Russia, who had launched 37 satellites in one single go, something it had achieved in 2014 using a modified intercontinental ballistic missile. So Russia remains way behind in terms of the number of satellites launched at the same time, followed by USA’s NASA which has launched 29. And while there are talks about India’s record being broken, it seems highly unlikely that any other country would plan to attempt such a feat in the future. This was only the 15th space mission the ISRO has conducted and has had an extremely good success rate as none of its programmes has failed since 2010. This was India’s first space mission of 2017 and the most complicated one yet, considering the sheer number of satellites it carried.

Today’s satellite launch will go on to be k own as one of the most successful space programmes ever devised and implemented by mankind. Of the 104 satellites that go into space, the PSLV-C37 rocket also carries a Cartosat-2 satellite which will be used to produce high-resolution images of the India. This will help in security and warn us against natural disasters. The XL version of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) that was used on Wednesday for the satellite launch is known to have a 100% success rate. It had earlier been used in India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) after it had debuted in 2008 in India’s first attempt to reach moon, Chandrayan-I. It must also be noted that the launch countdown of 28 hours was the shortest in all the PSLV missions so far.