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.
ISRO is starting 2018 with the successful launch... all satellites have been released. So far, Cartosat performance is satisfactory.AS Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO
A statement released by ISRO after the launch said:
The lift-off of PSLV-C40 occurred at 9.29 am IST from the first launchpad. After a flight lasting 16 minutes 37 seconds, the satellites achieved the polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 503 km inclined at an angle of 97.55 degree to the equator. In the succeeding seven minutes, the Cartosat-2 series satellite, INS-1C and 28 customer satellites successfully separated from the PSLV in a predetermined sequence. The fourth stage of PSLV-C40 fired twice for short durations to achieve a polar orbit of 365 km height in which India’s microsat successfully separated.
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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