Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The previous record was 37 satellites put into space at once

India has created history by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission, overtaking the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia in 2014.

All but three of the satellites are from foreign countries, most of them from the United States.

The launch took place from Sriharikota space centre in south India.

Observers say it is a sign that India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market.

"This is a great moment for each and every one of us. Today we have created history," project director B Jayakumar was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate the scientists tweeting, "This remarkable feat by @isro is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists."

Image copyright @narendramodi

Image copyright @narendramodi

The phrase "world record" has also been trending on Twitter India for much of Wednesday morning.

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Of the 104 small satellites, 96 belong to the United States while Israel, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and the Netherlands are the other foreign clients.

A majority of the satellites have earth-imaging capability and belong to a US company named Planet.

An Indian cartographic satellite, believed to be capable of taking high resolution images is also on board. It is expected to be used to monitor regional arch rivals Pakistan and China.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The rocket carrying 104 satellites was launched from the Sriharikota space centre

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the successful launch is yet another feather in the cap of India's ambitious space programme that has earned a reputation of offering a reliable low cost alternative to existing international players.

The Indian government has increased the budget for its space programme this year and also announced plans to send a mission to Venus.

Over the past two decades, India has become a key player in the lucrative commercial space market offering a low-cost alternative.</s>India successfully launched 104 satellites in a single mission on Wednesday, setting what its space agency says is a world record of launching the most satellites at one go.

 One hundred and one out of the 104 are foreign satellites to serve international customers as the South Asian nation seeks a bigger share of the $300 billion global space industry.

 “This is a great moment for each and everyone of us. Today we have created history,” said project director B. Jayakumar.

 ISRO’s low prices attracted international customers to launch 75 satellites last year from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Out of 101 nano satellites, 96 were from the United States and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations on the launch conducted by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation that went off smoothly and was carried live on national TV news channels. “This remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation,” he said. “India salutes our scientists.” The launch of PSLV-C37 in a single payload, including the Cartosat-2 series and 103 co-passenger satellites, together weighed over 650 kg.</s>Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): India's space agency ISRO launched a record 104 satellites on a single rocket from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh today. If it's a success, India will become the first country to carry so many satellites in a single mission. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37 is the star of what has been described as an incredible step for the country's space programme. It tore into the sky at 9.28 am, breaking free of the earth's gravitational pull with a growl. The countdown began 28 hours ago, says ISRO or the Indian Space Research Organisation.</s>The current record for the maximum number of satellites launched in a single mission is held by Russia, whose Dnepr rocket lifted off with a cluster of 37 satellites in June 2014.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced Monday it will attempt to launch a record 104 satellites on a single rocket. The launch, scheduled to take place at 9:28 a.m. local time Wednesday (10:58 p.m. EST Tuesday) will be carried out via a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the eastern Indian spaceport of Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Previous versions of the PSLV rocket have been successfully used to launch several low-Earth orbit satellites, India’s Chandrayaan lunar probe and the Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangalyaan.

“The co-passenger satellites comprise 101 nano satellites, one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and 96 from United States of America, as well as two nano satellites from India. ... PSLV-C37 also carries two ISRO nano satellites (INS-1A and INS-1B), as co-passenger satellites,” the space agency said in a statement.

In addition, the PSLV-C37 will seek to place a Cartosat-2 series Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 314 miles. The total weight of the payload will be roughly 3,040 pounds.

“The 101 international customer nano satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited, a Government of India company under Department of Space, the commercial arm of ISRO and the international customers,” ISRO said.

The launch can be watched live here from 8:50 a.m. local time Wednesday (10:20 p.m. EST Tuesday).

The current record for the maximum number of satellites launched in a single mission is held by Russia, whose Dnepr rocket lifted off with a cluster of 37 satellites in June 2014. Prior to that, in 2013, NASA used a Minotaur 1 rocket to place 29 satellites in orbit.

The PSLV launch comes just days after the release of the Indian government's annual budget that earmarked funds for an upcoming mission to Venus, a Mars orbiter mission, and the Aditya 1 mission, which seeks to place a spacecraft in the Lagrangian point L1 — a point of equilibrium that lies between Earth and the sun.

The mission to Venus, whose details are yet to be revealed, would be India’s first.

“India should be part of this global adventure and exploring Venus and Mars is very worthwhile since humans definitely need another habitation beyond Earth,” former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan told the Press Trust of India.
• India Launches Its First Space Observatory, And 4 US Satellites</s>India successfully launched 104 satellites in a single mission on Wednesday, setting what its space agency says is a world record of launching the most satellites at one go.

Of the 104, 101 are foreign satellites to serve international customers as the South Asian nation seeks a bigger share of the $300 billion global space industry.

"This is a great moment for each and every one of us. Today we have created history," said project director B. Jayakumar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations on the launch conducted by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that went off smoothly and was carried live on national TV news channels.</s>The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created history on Wednesday by successfully launching 104 satellites in one go on a single rocket. This is reportedly the highest number of satellites ever launched in a single mission.

According to Economic Times, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37 took off at 9:28 a.m. IST on Feb. 15 from the Sriharikota space center with 104 satellites. Incidentally, 101 of these satellites belong to international customers. The first satellite to be launched was the high-resolution Cartosat-2 series from India.

"All 104 satellites successfully placed in orbit,” ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar said. “My hearty congratulations to the entire ISRO team for the wonderful job they have done."

The PSLV-XL variant rocket, measuring 44.4 meters in length and weighing 320 tons, has a payload capacity of more than 1,500 kilograms. The XL Variant is a powerful rocket that was earlier used in the Chandrayaan mission and Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).

Of the 101 co-passenger satellites that belong to other countries, 96 are from the U.S. and five are from the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Israel, respectively. These nanosatellites that belong to other nations were launched as part of the arrangement by Antrix Corporation (ANTRIX), which is ISRO’s commercial arm.

According to The Indian Express report, ISRO’s feat is also laudable because the PSLV-C37 cost a mere $15 million to launch, a sum that is measly compared to the $60 million spent by SpaceX or the more than $100 spent by NASA to send satellites into space. Therefore, India has the lowest cost for launching satellites into space among all the space capable countries. Furthermore, the PSLV system has been used 39 times for sending payload into low-Earth orbit. ISRO has suffered only one true failure during the maiden voyage of the PSLV rocket in 1993, among its 39 launches.</s>The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that its scientists launched 104 satellites on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37 at 928 am on Wednesday, February 15, 2017.

ISRO said that it was the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission.

The launch was at Satish Dhawan Space Centre located in Sriharikota, a barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast located in Andhra Pradesh.

In addition, 101 foreign Nano Satellites from six countries were also launched, each weighing between 1.1 kg to 4.7 kg. Of these, 96 were from the United States, and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, UAE, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

“Indian CARTOSAT-2 series satellite weighing 727 kgs was launched along with two are national Nano Satellites INS -1 and INS-2. CARTOSAT-2 series has been designed for high-resolution earth observation. It has advanced cameras for cartographic applications,” the ISRO statement added.

With this launch, ISRO has further bolstered its impeccable scientific prowess and reinforced its credentials as a reliable partner for space initiatives.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the space scientific community and the nation for this proud feat.</s>Read more: The Times of India

Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse PSLV carried a record 104 satellites in a single mission from the space centre at Sriharikota Andhra Pradesh. Stay with TOI for latest news and updates.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Times of India.</s>They may be competing at the highest corridors of science in exploring the last frontier, but Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) nonetheless swears by the very Indian tendency to overpack. Case in point – ISRO‘s just made a world record for the number of satellites ever sent into space in a single launch by packing in a whopping 104 small satellites into the Earth’s orbit.

While you may have last heard of them when they sent a probe on a slingshot trip to Mars a couple of years back, folks at ISRO have been busy churning out one laurel after the other – with the world record being only the most recent one. The previous record for this feat was held by the Russians who had made it with sending just 39 satellites in theirs.

What with NASA on a prolonged cost-cutting effort, ISRO has capitalised on the booming multi-billion dollar space-market and has been taking the load off NASA by launching several US satellites. Sample this – of the 104 satellites blasted into space from the Sriharikota launch pad this morning, only a mere 3 were from Indian. Of the rest, an overwhelming 96 were from the US, while others including Israel, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and the Netherlands also sent their own.

Going from backbencher to parvenu in space exploration over recent decades, ISRO’s making sure it’s making money from the rather complication side-hustle of launching satellites. However, the local boy has its eyes set firmly afar and is even considering a mission to Venus. And with the news of another Indian-origin astronaut, Dr. Shawna Pandya prepping for a space mission next year, ISRO could very well pack in some Indian love (by which we mean jars of pickles) to keep her well stocked up there in its next mission.

Check out these other bizarre records held by Indians:</s>NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday successfully launched 104 satellites on a single mission from Sriharikota Space Centre, breaking Russian record of sending 37 satellites in 2014.

India will use the satellites to monitor Pakistan and China.

With the launch of the latest earth-observation satellites, now New Delhi has three electronic devices in the space. The US leads the club with 88 satellites while the rest are from Switzerland, the UAE, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Israel and Germany.

India will now has a bigger share in the global space industry worth $300 billion.

The satellite was launched from the Sriharikota Space Centre located in east India, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said.

Following launch of the satellite the phrase “world record” is trending on social networking site Twitter.

The satellite is also carrying a cartographic device that is capable of taking high resolution pictures.
The Indian Space Research Organisation launches a record 104 satellites in single mission.