21 Jun, 2016 09:10 PM

ISRO set to launch 20 satellites in one go on Wednesday

ISRO is all set to launch into orbit 20 satellites in one go through its PSLV C-34 rocket on Wednesday. 16 minutes after the launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at the scheduled time of 9.25 am, first satellite would be launched into intended orbit with the remaining 19 satellites following in the next 10 minutes. The 48-hour countdown activity for the launch started on Monday morning and Isro said it is progressing smoothly.

With 20 satellites, ISRO will beat its previous record of placing 10 satellites in April 2008.Russia holds the world record for placing the most number of satellites (30) in a single launch, which was held by ISRO before that for launching 10 in a launch.
Since its first launch in 1993, PSLV C-34 has carried out 35 successful launches, making it one of the most reliable launch vehicles. It has launched a number of Indian satellites and 35 satellites for customers from abroad.
The primary satellite in this mission is the Cartosat-2 series satellite. The images sent by satellite will be used for cartographic (for drawing maps) applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring and water distribution.

Isro will also launch co-passenger satellites from the US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. The foreign satellites are LAPAN-A3 from Indonesia, Brios from Germany, M3MSat and GHSSat-D from Canada, SkySat Gen 2-1 and 12 Dove satellites from the United States.
Among the foreign satellites, a Google satellite called SkySat Gen2-1 will also be set into space. SkySat Gen2-1 is a small Earth imaging satellite designed and built by Terra Bella, a Google company.
A total of 12 Dove satellites will also be carried inside three QuadPack dispensers in this mission. Each satellite weighs around 4.7 kg. The Dove satellites (Flock-2 P) are earth imaging satellite and are developed by US-based Planet Labs, which operates the largest constellation of Earth-imaging satellites.
Two satellites - Satyabhama Sat and Swayam - designed and developed by the students of Sathyabama University, Chennai and Pune’s College of Engineering will also be part of this historic launch.
The payload or the total weight of all the 20 satellites carried onboard the launch vehicle is about 1,288 kg.
Weighing 727.5 kg, the Cartosat-2 series satellite is the heaviest among the 20 satellites and the lightest is the Swayam that weighs just 1 kg.
India is fast emerging as the leading destination among space-faring nations to launch satellites. Isro has so far launched 57 satellites for foreign space agencies and vendors from 20 countries.