Indian space agency Isro will launch its 100th satellite along with 30 others in a single mission on Friday from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.
ISRO Satellite Centre director M Annadurai said that 31 spacecrafts, including weather observation Cartosat-2 series satellite, will be launched by PSLV-C40. Out of the 31, 28 satellites are foreign, while three are from India. “When the last satellite is ejected out it will become the hundredth satellite...the first century we have done. It is the maiden century. So PSLV-C40 marks maiden century of Indian satellite....we are eagerly waiting for that,” Annadurai told PTI.
As the space agency adds another feather in its cap, here’s a look at its ten big achievements:
Launching 104 satellites in a single mission, 2017: On February 15, 2017, ISRO garnered international attention when it launched 104 satellites using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), an Indian rocket. The launch took place at Sriharikota and successfully managed to put these satellites into their desired orbit in one go. 101 were foreign satellites out of the 104 launched. It also included the Cartostat-2 series, India’s earth observation satellite.
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, 2016: The seven-satellite system created India’s very own satellite navigation system that could potentially offer services like terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers. The launch of the 7th navigation satellite brought India much closer to the ‘GPS club’. Experts said an Indian-owned system will be particularly useful in times of war to gain positional accuracy.
Launching 20 satellites, 2016: Before it made the 104 satellite record, in June, Isro launched 20 satellites in one mission, a personal best for the space agency. Apart from Isro’s own satellites and those built by university students in the country, the mission carried satellites from the US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia.
Reusable Launch Vehicle, 2016: In May, Isro successfully tested the Reusable Launch Vehicle — Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) that was built on a budget of Rs 95 crore. The winged flight vehicle — dubbed as India’s space shuttle — that glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal in a 10-minute mission was the first stage of a fully re-usable vehicle. A reusable launch vehicle can bring down launch costs by up to ten times.