The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) just launched an amazing 104 satellites in one mission, setting a new record.
Its primary payload was a Cartostat earth observation satellite. Many of the spacecraft were microsatellites launched in tandem with a larger satellite. It's so astounding to see such remarkable human technological achievement.
Here's a description:
The PSLV-C37 started placing the satellites into a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit one after the other after a flight of 16 minutes and 48 seconds. The PSLV-C37 first injected the satellite Cartosat-2D at an altitude of 510.383 km, followed by the two ISRO nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B. It then took 11 minutes for the PSLV C-37 to place the remaining 101 "co-passenger" satellites into their intended orbits.
Soon after separation from the launch vehicle, the two solar arrays on board Cartosat-2D satellite were automatically deployed. Afterwards, ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru took over the control of the satellite. The satellite, once brought to its final operational configuration, will begin to provide remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and multispectral (colour) cameras. The mission lasted for 29 minutes.
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