India made a major leap in space technology when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) used workhorse PSLV-C34 to launch 20 satellites, including 17 foreign satellites into the orbit in a single mission. Setting a new record, the 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle took off on its 36th flight at 9:25 am from Satish Dhawan Space Centre with 20 satellites, including its primary payload Cartosat-2 series.
Cartosat-2 was placed in the orbit at 9:44 am, after which PSLV lifted a total of 1,288 kg into space and began placing satellites 17 minutes later. ISRO also gave a clear demonstration of the vehicle's capability to place satellites in different orbits as the vehicle re-ignited twice after its fourth and final stage and moved a few km ahead into another orbit. Scientists of the organisation said the demonstration is for the next mission when they intend to inject satellites in different orbits using a single rocket.
ISRO set a world record for the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission when it placed 10 satellites in a PSLV on April 28, 2008. NASA placed 29 satellites in a single mission in 2013, and Russia, 33 satellites in 2014 in one launch. ISRO scientists said the vehicle had been pre-programmed to perform tiny manoeuvring to place the 20 satellites were places with enough distance to prevent collision. Apart from Cartosat-2, other satellites launched include Lapan-A3 from Indonesia, Biros from Germany, M2MSat from Canada, SkySat Gen 2-1, a Google-made satellite from USA, GHGSat-D from Canada, 12 Dove Satellites from USA, Sathyabamasat from Sathyabhama University, Chennai and Swayam from College of Engineering, Pune.
