From transporting and assembling rockets and payloads on bicycles and bullock carts to having launched more than 300 satellites from different countries, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has traversed a remarkable journey over the years.
India is credited to having launched 342 foreign customer satellites into space from 34 countries through its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) till date. The last launch was on February 28, 2021, when PSLV-C51 carried one Brazilian and 13 American satellites.
ISRO provides launch service to international customers through its PSLV rocket. The first such commercial service was initiated onboard PSLV-C2 on May 26, 1999, with the launch of KITSAT-3 of the Republic of Korea and DLR-TUBSAT of Germany along with India’s IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT).
On February 15, 2017, India set a record by launching 104 satellites on a single rocket (PSLV-C37), of which 101 co-passenger satellites were international customers: the USA (96), the Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1) and the UAE (1).
The previous record was held by Russia of launching 37 satellites onboard the Dnepr rocket in June 2014. In March this year, Russia put 38 satellites in space from 18 countries.
Here’s a look at international satellites launched by ISRO:
In 2017, as many as 130 foreign satellites were launched by ISRO's PSLV, the most in a year, followed by 2018 (60) and 2019 (50).
Over five years ending 2018-19, ISRO has generated a revenue of Rs 1,245 crore launching satellites from about 20 countries.
The PSLV rocket is India’s third generation launch vehicle and the first to be equipped with liquid stages. The PSLV has “emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle,” adding to its credit the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 as well as Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013.
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