ISRO launches 31 satellites along with Cartosat-2

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 12 January 2018 launched 31 satellites along with Cartosat-2 satellite on its 44.4-metre tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) rocket. The polar rocket was launched from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The 320-tonne rocket will place the satellites one-by-one and deploy them into the earth's lower orbit. The entire lift-off process along with the process of placing the satellites in two orbits will take the satellite 2 hours and 21 minutes. It will be the longest flight time of the PSLV C40.

PSLV-C40 successfully placed the Cartosat-2 series satellite into sun synchronous orbit.

31 Satellites launched
• Among 31 satellites, three satellites belong to India and 28 are of six other countries.

• The Indian satellites are 710 kg Cartosat-2 series, a 100 kg micro satellite and a 5 kg nano satellite.

• The 28 other satellites are from Canada, Finland, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• The 28 international customer satellites were launched as part of the commercial arrangements between ISRO and its commercial arm 'Antrix Corporation Ltd'.

• The total weight of all 31 satellites is 1323 kg.

Cartosat 2 Series Satellite
• The PSLV-C40 rocket carried India's 100th satellite, Cartosat 2, a surveillance satellite.

• It weighs 710 kg and is the heaviest satellite that the PSLV has carried till now.

• The Cartosat-2 satellite launch is a follow-on mission with the primary objective of providing high resolution scene specific spot imageries.

• Cartosat will beam high-quality images for cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and utility management.

India begins countdown to launch 31 satellites