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India begins 48-hour countdown for launch of 20 satellites

Xinhua, June 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

India on Monday began the countdown for the record launch of 20 satellites in a single mission on June 22 from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota.

The 48-hour countdown started at 9.26 a.m. (local time) and the satellites will be launched Wednesday morning, a senior official of the state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The 20 satellites, which will be launched using the home-made Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34), include India's earth observation spacecraft Cartosat-2.

Apart from Cartosat-2, the PSLV-C34 will ferry two satellites from Indian universities and other satellites from countries including the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Germany.

In fact, it is the highest number of satellites ever to be launched by the Indian space agency that had earlier sent 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.

U.S. space agency Nasa had sent 29 satellites to the orbit in a single launch in 2013, creating history that it yet to be broken. Endit