Rahul Gandhi lauds ISRO's successful launch of its 100th satellite

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday lauded the the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the successful launch of its 100th satellite 'Cartosat-2 Series' from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota Island.

He said ISRO's hard work and dedication has made India the pioneer of space program.

"Congratulations to @isro for creating history yet again. Your hard work and dedication has made India the pioneer of space program," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind also hailed ISRO for the successful launch of its mission.

For the mission, the ISRO used PSLV-C40 launch vehicle, which is carrying 31 satellites, including three from India and 28 from six other countries.

The weather observation 'Cartosat-2 Series' satellite and 29 others were inserted into a 505-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit its liftoff.

Later, the payload Microsat developed by the ISRO was 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.

The flight is the first since the setback suffered by the PSLV in August last and is set to demonstrate that the workhorse rocket is back in the game for reliable satellite launches in the low earth and polar orbits.