Isro launches record 104 satellites into orbit

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) launched as many as 104 satellites from a single rocket on Wednesday, a global record, from its Sriharikota launch station off the Andhra coast.

In the next five years, at least 3,000 such satellites, the sizes varying from a small shoebox to a 24-inch television set, weighing between one and 50 kg, are expected to be built and launched by various  players, according to SpaceWorks Inc, a US space industry researcher.

The biggest of it would be from OneWeb, the SoftBank-funded satellite venture, which has India’s Bharti as a partner. It would be launching 648 small satellites to provide high-speed internet to various corners of the world.

Planet Labs, which acquired the satellite infrastructure of Google last week, has, for the second time on Wednesday, used Isro’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket to hurl 88 micro satellites (‘Doves’) into space for high-resolution images of the Earth.  Spire Global, a satellite firm that tracks navigation on the seas by providing real-time weather data to ships, used the Indian rocket to send up eight Lemur-2 satellites. These micro satellites have a lifespan of two to three years and need to be replaced regularly.

So far, Isro’s PSLV rocket has launched 225 satellites, of which 179 were for foreign customers.

Some important facts:

* Details of satellites –

1 Cartosat-2 – Indian earth observation satellite built and launched in 3 months

2 INS-2 – Isro nano satellites to demonstrate technologies for the future

5 One micro satellite each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates

8 Lemur-2 satellites for weather tracking by the US space start-up Spire Systems

88 Imagery satellites of Planet Labs, a US start-up owned by former Nasa scientists

179 Total foreign satellites launched by Isro on its PSLV rocket

225 Total satellites launched by Isro so far

* The launch of PSLV-C37 in a single payload, including the Cartosat-2 series and 103 co-passenger satellites, together weighed over 650 kg (1,433 lb)

* A ‘flock’ of 88 will get to work to map every inch of the planet in super high resolution, creating images of limitless potential

* The Mars mission cost Isro about $73 mn, nearly one-tenth the cost of a Nasa probe sent to orbit the planet the previous year