ISRO’s ‘Big-Day’ Is Tomorrow; Here’s Everything We Know So Far

Tomorrow, 15th February 2017 is “The Big Day” for all Indians as well as the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Tomorrow, the space agency is going to mark a new world record by launching 104 nano-satellites at one go from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. If things go well, ISRO will become the first space agency, and India will be the first nation to put the highest number of spacecraft into orbit in one move.

As per the official schedule, ISRO’s most reliable launcher – the PSLV-C37, holding a group of 104 satellites will lift off on 15th February, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This suite of 104 satellites embraces 101 foreign nano-satellites which weigh less than 10 kilograms each and two Indian nano-satellites alongside a massive Cartosat. The 101 foreign spaceships belong to five overseas countries — the United States, Netherlands, Israel, Kazakhstan, and Switzerland.

Alongside the PSLV-C37 rocket launcher, the set of satellites will have a joint weight of approximately 1,360 kilograms (1.36 tons). The jumbo launch event of ISRO is a first-of-its-kind and will mark India’s name in golden letters. Before India, the record of launching the most numbers of spaceships was held by Russi, who successfully managed to send 37 satellites into orbit in 2014. Before Russia, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was the owner of this record. The US-based space agency sent 29 satellites into space at one move in 2013.

Due to the involvement of multiple satellites and complexities, ISRO has prescribed some unique and high-end planning for its record-breaking launch event. As per the arrangement of ISRO, in the first phase, three satellites along with the heaviest of the suite from India will be estranged axially all along to the PSLV rocket. After this, 81 satellites will be isolated in a radial itinerary and will go on in various angles, as programmed by ISRO. Following this, the rest 20 satellites of the group will be dispatched in a different succession, hence marking the accomplishment of the mission.

Once this mega-launch event will be accomplished, India Space Research Organization will move towards the launch of probes to Mars and Venus. As per the fresh declaration of Indian Government, ISRO is planning to send a probe to Venus for the first time and revisit the Red Planet in the coming years. This new bold interplanetary sojourns of ISRO from Earth to its immediate neighbors will enable the agency to explore all those hidden secrets, which have kept on baffling astronomers since centuries.