Adding yet another feather in its cap, the Indian Space Research Organisation have successfully injected into orbit its earth imaging and mapping satellite CARTOSAT-3 along with 13 commercial nano-satellites from the United States.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to ISRO for the feat.
I heartily congratulate the entire @isro team on yet another successful launch of PSLV-C47 carrying indigenous Cartosat-3 satellite and over a dozen nano satellites of USA.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 27, 2019
With cloudy skies in the back ground, the 44.4 metre tall PSLV C47 rocket lifted off majestically at 9.28 am from the second launch pad at the Sriharikota spaceport. ISRO also tweeted the live launch.
Watch Live: Launch of Cartosat-3 and 13 USA’s Nanosatellite by PSLV-C47 https://t.co/wvdBy25uCG
— ISRO (@isro) November 27, 2019
CARTOSAT-3, India’s most complex and advanced earth imaging satellite built so far, was placed into orbit 17 minutes and 46 seconds after lift-off, the immediate mission after Chandrayaan 2, where the lander crashed while making a soft descent on the lunar surface on September 7.
All the 13 nano-satellites from the United States were released into the orbit at 26 minutes and 56 seconds after liftoff, ISRO said.
ISRO Chairman K Sivan and other scientists broke into cheers as the earth imaging and mapping satellite was injected precisely into the desired orbit.