The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today created a new record after it successfully launched 104 satellites in a single mission. ISRO bettered its own record set last June when it had launched 20 satellites. With the latest mission, ISRO surpassed the Russian space agency, which put 37 into orbit in a single launch in 2014.

The satellites were on board ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 9.28 am today. Of the 104 satellites, three are of Indian origin including the earth observation Cartosat-2 series satellite. The remaining 101 are nano satellites from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

In a press conference following the launch, ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar stressed that “this activity is not about any record”. The primary objective, Kumar said, “was to improve our capability to maximize our returns”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the ISRO team for the remarkable feat.