Launch of 31 satellites today
Sriharikota: The 28-hour countdown for the launch of Isro’s 100th satellite along with 30 others in a single mission, from the space port of Sriharikota began on Thursday. On its 42nd mission, Isro trusted workhorse PSLV-C40 will carry the weather observation Cartosat-2 satellite and 30 co-passengers (together weighing about 613 kg) at liftoff at 9.28 am on Friday.
The countdown for the launch of the PSLV on Friday, which will place the Cartosat-2 and 30 smaller satellites in space, has begun at 5.38 am on Thursday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shar, Sriharikota in Nellore district.
The time to start the countdown was decided by the Mission Readiness Review Committee (MRR) during a meeting at Shar on Wednesday
The launch is scheduled at 9.28 am from the first launch pad of Shar on Friday. The rocket is being loaded with liquid propellant. The mission will launch India’s 100th satellite.
The PSLV-C40 will launch a total of 31 satellites including the 710-kg Cartosat-2 for earth observation, a microsatellite and a nanosatellite from India. Isro will score its maiden century when the the last of the three Indian satellites will be ejected from the rocket into orbit.The rocket will be carrying three other microsatellites and 25 nanosatellites from Canada, Finland, France, South Korea, the UK and the United States.