Today was a proud day for my friends and contacts in India’s Space Agency, the Indian Space and Research Organisation, ISRO, as the country successfully deployed their 100th national satellite. It has been roughly four decades since India launched their first satellite Aryabhat, so taking their tally to 100 already is a very impressive milestone to be reached.
India's PSLV satellite launching with the country's 100th satellite January 12.
Image credit: ISRO, image source
The launch took place this morning, using India’s own Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C37. The mission deployed 31 satellites, out of which 3 were Indian and 28 belong to international customers from six countries including Canada, Finland, France, Korea, the UK and the US. Deploying numerous earth imaging satellites at the same time in the preferred polar orbit for imaging satellites has become a speciality for ISRO, as demonstrated by their record-setting launch of 104 satellites with one launch last year (also mentioned in my Space highlights of 2017 post this week).
India's Cartosat-2 satellite being prepared for launch
Image credit: ISRO, image source
The main payload for this launch, however, was the Indian Cartosat-2, making up 714kg of the payload’s total weight of 1323kg. The satellite (pictured above) will add to the constellation of earth observation surveillance satellites operated by ISRO. On top of providing the military with intelligence, in particular from the Indian border, the satellite series will also provide useful data to benefit industry public bodies in the country. A statement from ISRO on the relevant applications for the data can be read below:
The images from Cartosat-2 series satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and manmade features and various other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.
Statement on ISRO's official website. Source
I find great pleasure in reading stories like these myself and spending some time researching both the history and current capabilities of space agencies and industry in countries like India (as well as Brazil and China). When someone talks about space, it is easy to instantly think about NASA, thus forgetting that space is a frontier for humanity at large and one that most great economies are actively engaging in whether it be through their national space agencies or local industries.
So today I just want to give a toast to all my friends in India who I know either from the space sector or now also on steemit. I am convinced that your country will only become more relevant on the global space scene as time goes by!
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