ISRO's 100th satellite launch is New Year's gift to country: ISRO chairman

After the successful launch of its 100th satellite, 'Cartosat-2 Series', on Friday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar said it was a New Year's gift to the country.

"During the last PSLV launch we had problems, today what has happened proves that the problem was properly addressed and rectified. We are happy to give this new year gift to the country," Kiran Kumar said in a press conference here after PSLV C-40 launch vehicle successfully blasted off with 31 satellites, including 28 foreign ones, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota Island.

In August last year, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle failed to put country's first privately built satellite into orbit.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh took to twitter and congratulated the ISRO team for the successful launch, which was PSLV's 42nd flight since its inception.

"Yet another feather in the much decorated hat of Team #ISRO! Proud to be associated with ISRO at a time when it is scaling new heights," he tweeted.

The weather observation Cartosat-2 Series satellite and 30 others were inserted into a 505-km sun-synchronous orbit after about 17 minutes since its liftoff.

Later, the payload Microsat developed by the ISRO will be taken down to a lower orbit at 359-kilometre height and launched using the 'multiple engine switch-on' method.

This satellite is the seventh remote sensing satellite in its series and has the mission life of five years.

Its uses include monitoring urban and rural applications, coastal land use regulation, managing services like road networks and water distribution, detecting changes in geographical features and creation of land use maps.