REMARKABLE FEAT: Barring three Indian satellites, all others belong to foreign countries including the US -
SRIHARIKOTA: India successfully put a record 104 satellites from a single rocket into orbit on Wednesday in the latest triumph for its famously frugal space programme.
Celebrations erupted among scientists at the southern spaceport of Sriharikota as the head of India’s Space Research Organisation (Isro) announced all the satellites had been ejected as planned.
“My hearty congratulations to the Isro team for this success,” the agency’s director Kiran Kumar told those gathered in an observatory to track the progress of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately congratulated the scientists for the successful launch which smashes a record previously held by Russia.
“This remarkable feat... is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation,” Modi wrote on Twitter.
The rocket took off at 9:28 am (0358 GMT) and cruised at a speed of 27,000 kilometres per hour, ejecting all the 104 satellites into orbit in around 30 minutes, according to Isro.
The rocket’s main cargo was a 714 kg satellite for Earth observation but it was also loaded with 103 smaller “nano satellites”, weighing a combined 664 kg. The smallest weighed only 1.1 kg.
Nearly all of the nano satellites are from other countries, including Israel, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and 96 from the United States.
Around 90 of the satellites are from a San Francisco-based company, Planet Inc each weighing around 4.5 kg that will send Earth images from space.
Only three satellites belonged to India.
Scientists sat transfixed as they watched the progress of the rocket on monitors until the last payload was ejected, and then began punching the air in triumph and hugging each other.
This was PSLV’s 39th successful mission, known as India’s space workhorse. In 2015, it carried 23 satellites to space.
The launch means India now holds the record for launching the most satellites in one go, surpassing Russia which launched 39 satellites in a single mission in June 2014.
And it is another feather in the cap for Isro which sent an unmanned rocket to orbit Mars in 2013 at a cost of just $73 million, compared with Nasa’s Maven Mars mission which had a $671-million price tag.
Isro is also mulling the idea of missions to Jupiter and Venus.
The business of putting commercial satellites into space for a fee is growing as phone, Internet and other companies, as well as countries, seek greater and more high-tech communications.
India has carved out a reputation as a reliable low-cost option, relying in part on its famed skill of “jugaad” — creating a cheap alternative solution.
Experts say much of its credibility stems from India’s successful launch of the Mars orbiter, which gave it an edge over its rivals in the space race.
“India is proving to be a very viable option because of the cost and the reliability factor,” said Ajay Lele, a senior fellow at the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
“India has been doing these launches successfully and has established itself as a very reliable player.”
Mathieu J Weiss, a liaison officer for France’s CNES national space agency who is currently in India, said Isro had pulled off a major feat.
— AFP
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