The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched 31 passenger satellites into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit with its rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C38).
It launched third space craft of Cartosat-2 series weighing 712kg and 30 co-passenger satellites together weighing about 243kg. During the surgical strike conducted by Indian Army against terrorists last year, they got help from “eye in the sky”. Consequently, ISRO is strengthening the capability by launching Cartosat-2 satellite is remote sensing satellite dedicated to defence forces.
One of the satellite of the 30 nano satellites was developed by Noorul Islam University in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. This indigenous satellite will facilitate multi-spectral imagery for agricultural crop monitoring and disaster management support applications.
The 29 co-passenger satellites belong to 14 countries including Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The 40th mission of PSLV was scheduled to be launched at 09.29 hours from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
