PSLV to GSLV: Isro needs to cap its achievement by increasing launch power

It is unwise to praise the agency's frugality and cost arbitrage too much

The Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, added to its reputation when on Wednesday it sent 104 satellites into space from a single launch vehicle. Isro’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV, has flown 38 times before; with extra boosters attached, it has been made capable of handling the almost 1,400 kg of weight that the 104 satellites presented. Calculating and managing the various trajectories for these satellites was a fiendishly complex task, and Isro deserves to be complimented for its achievement. The main payload – over half the total weight – is the fifth Cartosat earth observation satellite. Other