ISRO To Catapult Two British Satellites In A Full-Fledged Commercial Launch 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching two United Kingdom satellites in a full-fledged commercial launch on 16 September, The Times of India has reported . Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C42 will be carrying Novasar and S1-4 satellites, which weigh 450 kg each. These satellites are meant for earth observation.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan told the media that this was not the first commercial launch. The first full-fledged commercial launch was completed by ISRO in 2007. The PSLV-CA had carried Italy’s AGILE satellite during its first full-fledged commercial launch. ISRO’s commercial operations achieved another milestone in 2015 when it launched five UK satellites which weighed 1,439 kg in total. This commercial launch had the highest payload among all commercial launches completed by ISRO.

So far, India’s space agency has launched 237 satellites belonging to 28 different countries. It has 0.6 per cent share in the global satellite launch market. ISRO is aiming to capture a higher share of the market in coming years. Elon Musk’s SpaceX gobbled 45 per cent share of the space launch market in 2017 due to its reusable rocket technology. This remains the biggest challenge to ISRO, which is well known for its cost-competitiveness.