All you need to know about Isro's mammoth launch of 20 satellites at one go

The PSLV is carrying 20 satellites, which includes ones for defence as well as commercial purposes

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Wednesday launched a rocket with as many as 20 satellites in one attempt from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The operation was one of the biggest attempts so far on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). 

The rocket is carrying satellites which are for defence as well as commercial purposes for various customers around the world. 

Business Standard tells you all that you need to know about this mammoth launch

Purpose

- The launch will demonstrate India’s capability to send multiple satellites to lower earth orbit on a single launch.

- It will also help the space agency tap the market for small satellite launches.

What satellites is it carrying?

- Cartosat-2C — a 725.5-kg weighing earth observation satellite, which will be used for defence purposes.

- Skysat-3, an earth imaging satellite, weighing 110 kg, which will have the capability to capture high definition videos. It is built by Terra Bella, a company owned by Google. 

- An imaging satellite of Planet Labs, founded by former NASA staff. 

- An 85-kg maritime satellite built by Canada's agencies.

- A scientific satellite, weighing 130 kg, by Germany's aerospace centre.

- Indonesian space agency’s earth observation satellite. 

- Two nano satellites weighing less than 1.5 kg built by College of Engineering in Pune and Sathyabama University.

How important is this launch?

The launch can help the agency tap the global opportunity in small satellite launches. It senses business opportunity from firms like One Web, which is aiming to send 700 small satellites into space for global internet access. 

Looking forward

- With the launch, it will help Isro to help reduce the time to launch a PSLV rocket to once in three weeks from Sriharikota against once in every two months

- Isro is also considering having a consortium with HAL, Godrej Aerospace and L&T to assemble and launch PSLV rockets for indigenous and global customer needs. 

Management speak 

Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar had said in a recent interview, “While we are enabling and enhancing the capacity for our own use, we also have an opportunity to make it commercial. Towards that we are discussing with industry on how to form a consortium or a mechanism where our capacity for launching can go up to maybe 12-18 per year. One is a consolidation phase where capacity building to meet demand is one of the key things we are concentrating on.”