Joy and celebrations broke out among scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the space agency did the country proud by creating a world record on Wednesday.
At precisely 9.28 am at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, ISRO launched 104 satellites on its PSLV-C37 rocket, making it the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission. Through this feat, it broke the record held by Russia which had sent 37 satellites on a single mission in 2014. India's previous record was the launch of 20 satellites in June 2015.
ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar summed up the joy of the scientists when he said to loud cheers: "All 104 satellites successfully placed in orbit. My hearty congratulations to the entire ISRO team for the wonderful job they have done."
The PSLV-C37 rocket carrying the satellites included three Indian and 101 satellites belonging to six foreign countries — 96 from the US and one each from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Israel, UAE and Kazakhstan. And handling them was no easy task.
"It was a complex mission," admitted PSLV-C37 Project Director B Jayakumar. "But our teams came up with very good solutions. The integration parts are also done very well by our team. It is a great moment for each and every one of us. So far, ISRO has launched 226 satellites, out of which 179 are from foreign nations."
As P Kunhikrishnan, director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, said: "This year's first launch stands out as a remarkable event that will be inscribed in golden letters in the space history of India," he said, noting that the countdown time of 28 hours was the shortest of all PSLV missions so far.
Coincidentally, this was the PSLV's 39th successful mission. Asked as to the space agency's future plans, he added: "We are getting geared up for three upcoming missions in the first half of 2017 and activities are in progress in various centres of ISRO."
As news of the world record spread, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee, among others, offered their congratulations.
Tweeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi said: "Congratulations to @isro for the successful launch of PSLV-C37 and CARTOSAT satellite together with 103 nano satellites!"
President Pranab Mukherjee too offered his congratulations on Twitter and urged the premier space agency to strive even harder. "This day shall go down as a landmark in the history of our space programme...I urge ISRO to continue to strive for the progress of our space capabilities."
