ISRO to hit 100 foreign satellite launch figure soon

Chennai: India will soon touch the magic figure of launching 100 foreign satellites, said a senior official of ISRO.

According to Antrix Corporation - the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India till date has launched 74 satellites from 20 countries.

On Monday morning an Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch five more foreign satellites.

If the launch is successful, then the total number of foreign satellites launched for a fee would touch 79.

Next month India will be launching two more foreign satellites.

"In couple of launches, we hope to touch the magic number of launching 100 foreign satellites," the ISRO official, who did not want to be named, told IANS.

India started launched foreign satellites in 1999 mostly as a piggyback to its main cargo. The piggyback is done mainly to fill up the rocket's capacity.

While such piggyback satellites are small in size, ISRO has been getting orders for satellite launches as a full payload since 2007 when it launched Agile, an Italian satellite.

In August, Antrix said it has bagged orders for launch of 68 foreign satellites.

Touching the magic figure of 100 foreign satellite launches will not be a major challenge as ISRO is adept in launching multiple satellites with a single rocket.