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On 15th February 2017 India achieved a milestone in space mission. On this day Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C37 with the highest number of satellites, i.e., 104 on a single rocket and made a world record. Before India, this record was held by Russia’s Dnepr rocket which sent 37 satellites in a single flight in 2014. However, India’s record was broken by Elon Musk’s SpaceX mission in 2021 which launched 143 satellites in a single flight and it is the highest to date.
PSLV C37 Carried 104 Satellites
A total of 104 satellites were carried to space and successfully deployed by the PSLV C37 in its 39th mission. It was the 16th flight of the PSLV in XL configuration, which is the most powerful rocket also used in the Chandrayaan mission. It was launched by ISRO from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDPC) located in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The total weight of all the satellites carried by PSLV was about 1378kg. The PSLV C37 carried 101 international satellites and three Indian-made satellites. The foreign satellites were launched as part of a commercial arrangement between the international customers and ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited. Antrix is owned and controlled by the Government of India’s Department of Space.
Out of the three Indian satellites, one was CARTOSAT-2D, and two nano satellites namely, INS 1A and INS 1B. The foreign satellites comprised 96 satellites from the United States of America and one satellite each from Kazakhstan, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
103 Nano Satellites
Nano satellites are other small satellites that accompany the bigger satellites. In the PSLV C37 mission, the major Indian satellite is CARTOSAT-2 and the other 103 satellites were the nano satellites. Out of these 103 nano satellites, 2 were Indian satellites developed by ISRO and are known as ISRO Nano Satellite (INS) – INS-1A and INS-1B. These co-passenger satellites can provide innovative payloads for future and experimental use. They are equipped with antennae, transmitters, receivers, cameras, and other devices that help to deliver images and data of a given area on a frequent basis.
Foreign Satellites
The facts and features of the 101 foreign satellites are as follows:
- Of the 101 foreign satellites, 96 are from the United States of America (USA).
- The Dove (Flock-3P) satellite from the USA is a fleet of nano satellites and is designed and developed by Planet Labs, a US-based company. These satellites deliver images of the Earth every day. The images taken by these satellites are used for commercial, environmental and humanitarian purposes.
- LEMUR nano satellites are built by Spire Global Inc., USA and the information collected by these satellites is used for vessel tracking, weather measurement and an Automatic Identification System.
- The remaining five satellites are one each from Israel, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, and the Netherlands. These satellites provide functionalities to support microgravity research, technology demonstration and others.
CARTOSAT-2 – An Important Indian Satellite
CARTOSAT-2 is the second of the CARTOSAT series of satellites of ISRO. The satellite weighs about 680kg and has a design life of 5 years. It is an earth observation satellite that delivers images of the Earth from the sun-synchronous orbit. It is equipped with a panchromatic camera that takes black and white pictures of the Earth. The images and data collected by this satellite are useful for cartographic applications, infrastructure purposes and for Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.
Conclusion
The launch of PSLV C37 with 104 satellites in a single go is an incredible achievement of ISRO. With a major Indian satellite CARTOSAT-2 and 103 nano satellites launched on a single rocket, this mission set a benchmark for other countries. The images and information sent by these satellites are used by ISRO and other space research organisations for various geographical and infrastructure studies, urban and rural applications, utility management, water distribution, road networks, and other purposes. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is continuously working towards developing the most advanced and robust space technology and marking its place as one of the elite space agencies in the world.
