Today's mission marked a milestone in ISRO's annals with a microsatellite, among the three Indian spacecraft launched, becoming the 100th to roll out through ISRO Satellite Centre Complex (ISAC)
India today reaffirmed its space prowess and commercial launch capabilities as it successfully launched its 100th satellite along with 30 other spacecraft including weather observation Cartosat 2 series onboard the Polar rocket from Sriharikota.
This was PSLV's longest-ever mission.
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Cartosat-2 Series is an advanced remote sensing satellite similar in configuration to earlier six spacecraft in the series and intended to augment data services to the users.
Its primary objective is to provide high-resolution scene-specific spot imageries that would help in urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution and geographical information system applications among others.
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The previous mission to launch backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board PSLV-C39 had failed after the heat shield did not separate in the final leg of the launch sequence, with the satellite getting stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.
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A visibly relieved ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, on his final mission as the chief of the space agency, said he was happy to provide Cartosat 2 Series as a New Year gift for the country.
"ISRO is starting 2018 with the successful launch... All satellites have been released. So far Cartosat performance is satisfactory," he said at the mission control room.
He said the previous launch faced a heat shield problem and an ISRO committee has addressed it and taken steps to ensure the vehicle was 'robust'.
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Taking exception to India's 100th satellite+, Pakistan said that such pursuits should not be directed towards a build-up of destabilizing military capabilities, which can negatively impact the regional strategic stability.
(Photograph:AFP)