For The First Time Ever, ISRO To Launch 83 Satellites On A Single Rocket In January

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is aiming for a world record by putting into orbit 83 satellites - two Indian and 80 foreign - on a single PSLV-C37 rocket in early 2017, the agency informed on Tuesday (27 December). Foreign satellites will be launched as part of an agreement between foreign customers and Antrix Corporation Limited, ISRO’s commercial arm.

The 80 foreign satellites weigh 500 kilograms and belong to five countries – Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. While the three Indian satellites are Cartosat-2 series that weighs 730 kg as primary payload, INS-IA and INS-1B, totally weighing 30 kg.

The major challenge for the proposed mission is to hold the rocket in the same orbit till all the satellites are ejected. As all the 83 satellites will be put in a single orbit, there will not be any switching off and on of the rocket.

According to Sputnik International, Antrix Corporation earned $34.5 million in revenue during the last financial year. This is about 0.6 per cent of the global launch services market.

For ISRO, launch of multiple satellites at one go is not a new thing as it has done it several times in the past. Setting a record in June, ISRO had successfully launched 20 satellites, including its earth observation Cartosat-2 series, in a single mission on board PSLV-C34. The space agency had earlier sent 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.

With inputs from IANS