ISRO PSLV-C37 Launch-Cartosat Series, India’s Nano Satellites Successfully Injected In Orbit

ISRO PSLV-C37 Launch-Cartosat Series, India’s Nano Satellites Successfully Injected In Orbit

Sriharikota: On Wednesday morning, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has set a new world record in space mission achievements after its successful launch of record breaking 104 satellites PSLV-C37 in one go from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre located in Andhra Pradesh, India.

It was first space mission of ISRO for the year 2017. It was the most complicated task ISRO has ever carried out. The President Pranab Mukherjee and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the space agency for its historical event that has significantly boosted India’s space program.

ISRO has set a new world record in space mission achievements with104 satellites PSLV-C37 in one go from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre located in Andhra Pradesh,

The space agency, ISRO has begun the countdown for the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (aka PSLV)’s 39th flight on Tuesday at 5:28 AM soon after following the Launch Authorisation Board and the Mission Readiness Review Committee has given its approval for the lift off, ISRO stated. The scientists have commenced filling of the propellant for the rocket, it added.

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The 28-hour countdown for the launch of PSLV-C37, a record of 104 satellites by India on board an own rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 125 km from Chennai, commenced on Tuesday. India was the first country to script the history in successfully launching the 104 satellites in a single rocket.

The PSLV-C37/Cartosat2 Series satellite mission carried the primitive satellite (Cartosat-2) and 101 foreign nano satellites. It has also launched two of its nano satellites, INS-1A and INS-1B.

The ISRO Mission:

ISRO’s PSLV first launched a 714 kg CARTOSAT-2 Series satellite for the earth observation and that followed by the INS-1A & INS-1B, after it has reached the Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. It then went on to inject the 103 co-passenger satellites that together weighs about 664 kg, in pairs.

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ISRO scientists have used the XL Variant, which was the most powerful rocket and was earlier employed in the ambitious Chandrayaan and during the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).

Why Is The Launch Important?

The successful launch of PSLV-C37 set a new record for carrying the most number of satellites 104 that was launched at one go. The event puts a wide margin between India and the next record holder, the Russian Space Agency which has launched 37 satellites in 2014.

PSLV-C37 Liquid Stage at Stage Processing Facility

Earlier, the US space agency Nasa has launched 29, while ISRO has successfully launched 20 satellites in one go in the year June 2015.

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The Payload

The PSLV carried the 714 kg-CARTOSET-2 for the Earth observation along with 103 smaller ‘nanosatellites‘ that weighs a combined 664 kg. In total, the entire launch has carried a satellite mass of about 1,378 kg.

Of 101 co-passenger satellites, 96 belong to the USA, five from the International customers of ISRO that include Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, respectively. The two other Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B weighed about 30 kg. The entire satellite weighs about 1,378 kg which would also ride piggyback in the rocket.

The nano-satellites belonging to the international customers were launched by the Antrix Corporation Ltd (ANTRIX) which was the commercial arm of ISRO. Cartosat-2 Series, the primary satellite, was similar to that of the earlier four satellites used in the Cartosat-2 Series.

Cartosat Series And The Indian Nano-Satellites

The Cartosat satellites were being launched to provide a remote sensing services. Images sent by it would be useful for the coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water and in the creation of land use maps, amongst others.

The Cartosat-2 Series has a mission life of about five years.  The two Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B were developed as co-passenger satellites to accompany the bigger satellites on PSLV.

The primary objective of INS (ISRO Nano-Satellite) was to provide an opportunity for the ISRO technology demonstration payloads and to provide a standard bus for launch on demand services.

INS-1A carries a Surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Radiometer and INS-1B would carry an Earth Exosphere Lyman Alpha Analyser as payloads.