Nellore: ISRO got the go-ahead on Monday for its attempt to launch a record set of 104 satellites on a single rocket on Monday. Its mission readiness review committee (MRRC) as well as the launch authorisation board gave the green signal for launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that will carry the satellites.
The MRRC, led by its chairman K. Narayana and LAB led by Shar director P. Kunhi Krishnan, decided to commence the countdown at 5.28am on Tuesday, and launch the rocket at 9.28am on Wednesday. In its 39th flight, PSLV will launch the 714-kg Cartosat-2 satellite for earth observation and 103 co-passenger satellites, together weighing about 664kg, at lift-off. The satellites will be placed in an orbit 505km above the Earth.
Of the 101 international co-passenger nano-satellites, 96 are from the US, and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Nethe-rlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The weight of all the satellites at launch will total 1,378 kg. The PSLV-C37 will also carry two Isro nano satellites — INS-1A and INS-1B. These satellites carry a total of four payloads from the Space Applications Centre (SAC) and Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems (LEOS) of ISRO for conducting various experiments.
In a show of moral support, youths and students from different schools and journalist associations took out rallies in Nellore for the success of the launch. The school education department is also conducting elocution and essay competitions on the achievements of ISRO.
