When India Sent 104 Satellites Into Space

On February 14, 2017, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched 104 satellites into orbit on a single rocket—the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). 

It was on its 39th mission when it was blasted from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The PSLV-C37 carried three times the number of satellites ever launched into space at the time and broke Russia’s record.

The PSLV-C37 launch is a rare accomplishment. It was able to send each satellite in the desired sun-synchronized orbit without disturbing the flights of others. 

Before this, Russia had launched 37 satellites on a Dnepr rocket on 19 June 2014, and the United States had deployed 33 satellites on an Antares 120 rocket on 9 January 2014.  

Of the 104 satellites that were deployed, only three were Indian, and the remaining 101 co-passengers were from other countries. There were 96 nanosatellites from the United States and one satellite each from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, Kazakhstan, and the UAE. 

The total weight of the satellites onboard PSLV-C37 was 1378 kg, of which the total weight of 103 satellites was 664 kg, while the weight of the Cartosat-2 series satellite was 714 kg.. 

The first three satellites to be launched were India’s Earth observation satellite, the high-resolution Cartosat-2 series, and nanosatellites INS-1A and INS-1B. Curtosat-2 is being used to map urban and rural regions, regulate coastal land use, and manage water distribution, among other uses.

On April 14, 1975, India launched its first satellite Aryabhata from Astrakhan Oblast, Russia. It was named after the noted mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata I. With the launch of the unmanned satellite, India became the 11th country in the world to send a satellite into space.

Five years later, on July 18, 1980, India launched its first experimental satellite launch vehicle, the SLV-3. When the SLV-3 put Rohini, a series of satellites launched by ISRO, in orbit, India became the sixth member of an exclusive club of space-faring nations. 

In more recent history, India launched an unmanned lunar probe under the Chandrayan program in October 2008, and on November 5, 2013, it launched the spacecraft, Mangalyaan.  

With its Mars Orbiter Mission, India became the fourth nation in the world to reach Mars orbit, and the first one to do it in its maiden attempt.

In 1984, four years after the launch of the SLV-3, India sent its first astronaut into space. Since then, Rakesh Sharma has remained the only Indian astronaut to have gone into space but this is soon going to change.


Gaganyan, likely to be launched in 2024, will be India’s first human space mission and will make way for cutting-edge scientific research in the country through human-in-loop microgravity experiments. 

India’s space ambitions are growing every day, and it has become a force to reckon with. The Indian space story might still be in its nascent stage, but it's one written in the stars.