Proud moment for India: ISRO successfully launches its 100th satellite

India successfully launched its 100th satellite ‘Cartosat-2 Series’ from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota Island on Friday. For the mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) used PSLV-C40 launch vehicle, which is carrying 31 satellites, including three of India and 28 of six other countries. The weather observation ‘Cartosat-2 Series’ satellite and 29 others will be inserted into a 505-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit after about seventeen and a half minutes since its liftoff.

Later, the payload Microsat developed by the ISRO will be taken down to a lower orbit at 359-kilometre height and launched using the ‘multiple engine switch-on’ method. This satellite is the seventh remote sensing satellite in its series and has the mission life of five years.

Its uses include monitoring urban and rural applications, coastal land use regulation, managing services like road networks and water distribution, detecting changes in geographical features and creation of land use maps. The flight is the first since the setback suffered by the PSLV in August last and is set to demonstrate that the workhorse rocket is back in the game for reliable satellite launches in the low earth and polar orbits.