Indian space agency ISRO today successfully launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in orbit with a record 20 satellites from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
‘PSLV has done it's job', said ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar after the launch of 20 satellites.
NDTV reported that the 320 tonne PSLV C-34 carried 17 foreign small satellites from Canada, Indonesia, Germany and the US but the main passenger was a 727 kg Indian earth observation satellite called Cartosat, which can take images at sub-meter resolution.
The launch also placed into orbit two Indian academic community built satellites, Sathyabhamasat and Swayam.
This launch included 13 US-made small satellites into space, which includes an earth imaging satellite made by Terra Bella, a Google-owned company.
With 20 satellites, the Indian space agency beat its previous record of placing 10 satellites in April 2008.
NDTV reported that with this launch, ISRO is ready to take on private billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos who have entered the space launch business and offer far cheaper space launches.
