Countdown Commences Until Launch of Indian Rocket Bearing 20 Satellites

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has begun a 48-hour countdown until the launch of 20 satellites. This will be the first time that ISRO has launched more than 10 satellites in a single mission. The launch will take place at Satish Dhawan Space Center in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday at 9.26 am.

The mission will be a complex maneuver, putting multiple satellites into different orbits using the same rocket. India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) will carry the satellites, including the country's Earth observation spacecraft Cartosat-2 and 19 co-passenger satellites. The total weight of all the satellites carried on board PSLV-C34 is estimated at 1,288 kg, according to ISRO. The entire mission will last a mere 26 minutes.

The images sent by Cartosat-2 will be useful for cartographic, urban, rural and coastal land use, water distribution and other applications. Other satellites will be used in collecting data on greenhouse gases, forecasting weather and cyclone detection, and providing point-to-point messaging services.

The co-passenger satellites, which together weigh about 560 kg, include two Indian students' satellites and the 17 micro- and nanosatellites of foreign customers from the US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia.