India’s space agency on Feb 15th, 2017 launched a record 104 satellites from a single rocket as it crossed another milestone in its low-cost space-exploration program. The satellites from seven countries were carried by the Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on its 38th consecutive successful flight. On board was a 714kg satellite for earth observation and more than 100 smaller satellites weighing less than 10kg each. Three were Indian-owned, 96 were from US companies, and the rest belonged to companies based in Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Most were owned by Planet Labs Inc, a US-based Earth-imaging company.
