New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched record 20 satellites, including Cartosat-2 series, India's latest earth observatory, onboard PSLVC-34 from its Sriharikota's Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday June 22.


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Here are some interesting facts about ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, commonly known by its abbreviation PSLV:


  • The PSLV is an expendable launch system developed and operated by the ISRO.
  • PSLV made its first flight on September 20, 1993, but the mission failed early into flight.
  • It has been in service for over 20 years and has launched over 40 satellites for 19 countries.

 


  • Some notable payloads launched by PSLV include India's first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1, India's first interplanetary mission Mangalyaan (Mars orbiter) and India's first space observatory, Astrosat.
  • In the year 2015 alone, ISRO successfully launched 17 foreign satellites belonging to Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
  • PSLV can take up to 1,750 kg of payload to Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbits of 600 km altitude.

 


  • Due to its unmatched reliability, PSLV has also been used to launch various satellites into Geosynchronous and Geostationary orbits, like satellites from the IRNSS constellation.
  • In order to cater to different mission requirements, ISRO has envisaged a number of variants of PSLV. Currently, there are three operational versions of the PSLV - the standard (PSLV-G), the core-alone (PSLV-CA) without the six strap-on booster motors, and the (PSLV-XL) version, which carries more solid fuel in its strap-on motors than the standard version.