Launch of foreign satellites: it's 200 and counting for ISRO

Sriharikota: Creating a record of sorts, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today completed a double century in respect of launching foreign satellites, when the workhorse and reliable launch vehicle PSLV, placed 29 satellites of 14 countries in the desired orbit. The PSLV-C38, with Cartosat-2 series as the primary payload, carried 30 other nano-satellites, including 29 from abroad, as co-passengers. Exactly, about 16 minutes after liftoff from the First Launch Pad at 0929 hrs, Cartosat-2 series was injected into the Orbit and in the span of next seven minutes, all the nano satellites were placed in the precise orbit.

The 29 nano satellites were from 14 countries--Austria, Belgium, Britain, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and the US. ISRO sources said, prior to today's mission, the Space Agency has so far launched 180 foreign satellites since 1999. With the launch of 29 foreign satellites, ISRO has completed the double century mark, having launched 209 satellites till date. This is also the second biggest launch in terms of the number of satellites in a single mission after the space agency launched 104 satellites in February this year. (UNI)