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After the successful launch of PSLV-C40 on Friday, 12 January, ISRO released a video –taken on board – as the rocket travelled at 27,000 km/h, dropping off 31 satellites one after the other into the orbit.
India's 100 satellite lifted off at 9:28 am at the end of the 28-hour countdown from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The co-passenger satellites includes three micro and 25 nano-satellites from six countries – Canada, Finland, France, Korea, the United Kingdom and US.
The primary objective of the sensitive camera installed in the 710 Cartosat-2 Series satellite 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.
A visibly relieved ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar, on his final mission as the chief of the space agency, said he was happy to provide the Cartosat-2 Series as a New Year’s gift to the country.
A statement released by ISRO after the launch said:
Congratulatory messages poured in from President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the successful launch of the rocket.
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