India’s space agency ISRO will launch a
record 103 satellites — all but three of them foreign — at one go on a single
rocket in the first week of February in what will be a major feat not attempted
by any country.
As India looks
to grab a larger slice of the lucrative commercial space market, 100 of the 103
satellites set for launch by ISRO’s workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 in February from
from its Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh belong to
foreign nations, including the US and Germany.
“We are making a
century by launching over 100 satellites at one go,” S. Somnath, Director of
the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO), told a plenary session on the second day of the ongoing Indian Science
Congress here today.
The
space agency had earlier planned a launch of 83 satellites in the last week of
January, of which 80 were foreign ones. But with the addition of 20 more
foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in
first week of February, Somnath said.
He, however, did
not specify the number of countries that would launch its satellites in this
mission, but said it includes nations like the US and Germany.
“These will be
100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle)-C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kgs, of
which 500-600 kgs will be the satellite’s weight,” Mr. Somnath added.
The launch will
be a major feat in country’s space history as no exercise on this scale has
been attempted before.
Last year, ISRO
launched record 20 satellites at one go.
The highest
number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia
set in 2014. The US space agency NASA launched 29.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s pet South Asian satellite project, meanwhile, will take off in
March.
The South Asian
satellite will be a part of GSAT-9, which will be launched in March this year,
M. Nageshwara Rao, Associate Director of ISRO said.
The
communication satellite was to be launched in December 2016, but was slightly
delayed as some other satellites are to be launched before that.
Sources said
talks with Afghanistan to have the country on-board for the project is in its
final stages.
Envisaged as a
gift to its neighbours, the project, earlier known as SAARC satellite, faced
stiff resistance from Pakistan. The neighbouring country wanted it to be
launched under the aegis of the South Asian regional forum. It later backed out
of the project.
Apart from
India, the satellite will benefit Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and
Bhutan.
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