ISRO's PSLV SCATSAT-1 to be launched today, to hit 100 foreign satellite launch figure

Chennai:  India has touched the magic figure of launching 100 foreign satellites, after ISRO on Monday launched ISRO's PSLV SCATSAT-1, with 7 other satellites.  According to Antrix Corporation - the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India before Monday had launched 74 satellites from 20 countries. On Monday morning an Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launched eight more foreign satellites. If the launch is successful, then the total number of foreign satellites launched for a fee would touch 79. Next month India will be launching two more foreign satellites. "In couple of launches, we hope to touch the magic number of launching 100 foreign satellites," the ISRO official, who did not want to be named, told IANS. India started launched foreign satellites in 1999 mostly as a piggyback to its main cargo. The piggyback is done mainly to fill up the rocket's capacity. While such piggyback satellites are small in size, ISRO has been getting orders for satellite launches as a full payload since 2007 when it launched Agile, an Italian satellite. In August, Antrix said it has bagged orders for launch of 68 foreign satellites. Touching the magic figure of 100 foreign satellite launches will not be a major challenge as ISRO is adept in launching multiple satellites with a single rocket. Gathering speed every second, the rocket raced towards the heavens amidst the cheers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials and the media team assembled at the rocket port here. At the rocket mission control room, Indian space scientists at ISRO were glued to their computer screens watching the rocket escaping the earth's gravitational pull. Seventeen minutes into the flight, the rocket's main cargo, the 371 kg SCATSAT-1 - for ocean and weather related studies - was injected into a 730 km polar sun synchronous orbit. Although SCATSAT-1 is a follow-on mission for Oceansat-2 improvements have been made in the satellite's hardware configuration based on lessons learnt from Oceansat-2 instruments. Also SCATSAT-1's payload has been characterised with the objective of achieving data quality for Climate Data Records, apart from facilitating routine meteorological applications, the ISRO said.