The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its imaging and mapping satellite Cartosat-3 into space on Wednesday morning. The satellite has been placed at an orbit of 509 km (316 miles), at an inclination of 97.5 degrees.
"13 commercial satellites from USA successfully placed in their designated orbits," ISRO announced.
The cost-effective polar satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C47 placed 13 nano-satellites belonging to American firms related to Earth observation, and communication was tested from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Cartosat-3 is the ninth satellite of the Cartosat series. This will be the fifth launch of 2019.
Cartosat series satellites were employed in 2016 when the Indian Army carried out a cross-border strike along the line of control by providing ‘Area of Interest’ based images.
"Cartosat 3 is India’s highest resolution civilian satellite. It is also the most complex and advanced observation satellite ISRO has built so far. We are having 13 missions up to March 2020. These 13 missions comprise six launch vehicle missions and seven satellite missions...", ISRO Chief KV Sivan said while briefing reporters following the successful launch.
The launch of the Cartosat-3 satellite and 13 other commercial nano-satellites comes just months after the lander of India's second lunar probe Chandrayaan-2 lost contact with the space agency's Earth station minutes before its scheduled soft-landing on the noon’s South Pole on 7 September, crushing the country's hope of making space history.