An Indian rocket launched a record 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission yesterday, underlining the nation’s emergence as a major competitor in the multibillion-dollar space market.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket ejected all the satellites within minutes of each other after liftoff at 9:20am in clear weather from the Sriharikota space station in southern India, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said.
The PSLV first put into polar orbit the remote-sensing Indian satellite, Cartosat-2A, fitted with a high-resolution camera and advanced scientific instruments.
It also launched an 83kg Indian mini-satellite and a cluster of eight so-called nano-satellites, each weighing between 3kg and 16kg, built by research institutions from Europe, Canada and Japan.
The PSLV, the workhorse of India’s space program, blasted off on its 13th flight leaving behind a massive trail of orange and white smoke.
“The mission was perfect,” said G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Bangalore-based ISRO, after the launch was telecast live by public broadcaster Doordarshan.
“It is a historic moment for us because it is the first time that we have launched 10 satellites in a single mission,” he said, congratulating Indian scientists who broke into applause at the mission control center.
The flight, which Nair said had not deviated “even a dot” from its specifications, broke the previous record of eight satellites launched at one go by a Russian rocket, according to Indian newspaper reports.
The marketing arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation, charged a fee for the launch of the miniature foreign satellites.
India, which launched its space program 45 years ago, wants to compete alongside the US, Russia, China, the Ukraine and the European Space Agency in offering commercial satellite launch services.
“By launching so many satellites at one go, India has showcased the commercial applicability of its space program,” said Ajay Lele, a space expert at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.
“It wants to market its launch systems and also its capability in earth imagery,” Lele said. “The mission is very significant from a commercial point of view.”
India first staked its case for a share of the commercial launch market by sending an Italian spacecraft into orbit in April last year. In January, it launched an Israeli spy satellite despite Iranian protests.
India carried out the first successful launch of a domestic satellite by a home-built rocket in 1980, when it was less preoccupied with reaping commercial benefits and more with harnessing space technology to boost deficient communications and broadcasting facilities.
Cartosat-2A, the main satellite launched yesterday to an altitude of 630km above earth, also has a domestic economic dimension and can be used for intelligence gathering as well, officials say.
More advanced than a predecessor launched in January last year, it will boost India’s efforts to reinforce urban and rural infrastructure to keep pace with economic growth that averaged nearly 9 percent in the past four years.
The satellite will beam “clear and detailed images of even miniscule objects” on earth, will aid economic planners in land and water resources management, Lele said.
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
RSS