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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 everyone 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.
"This remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for
our space scientific community and the nation," he said. "India
salutes our scientists."
Modi is bullish on India's space program and has repeatedly
praised the efforts of scientists who three years ago pulled off
a low-cost mission to send a probe to orbit Mars that succeeded
at the first attempt.
ISRO's low prices attracted international customers to launch 75
satellites last year from Sriharikota in the southern state of
Andhra Pradesh.
The launch of PSLV-C37 in a single payload, including the
Cartosat-2 series and 103 co-passenger satellites, together
weighed over 650 kg (1,433 lb)
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.
(Reporting by Rupam Jain; Editing by Douglas Busvine and
Jacqueline Wong)
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