The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday set a new record of launching 20 satellites, including India's Cartosat-2 series and those the U.S., Germany, Canada and Indonesia.
At 9:26 a.m., ISRO's workhorse PSLV C-34 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
The vehicle will not only put 20 satellites into the same orbit — the highest number of satellites to be put into orbit by a PSLV — but it will perform two tricky experiments of the same nature. Fifty minutes after the satellites are injected into the orbit from the fourth stage of the vehicle, its engine will be re-ignited for five seconds. Then it will be shut down for 50 minutes and re-ignited for another five seconds, according to K. Sivan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
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