ISRO eyes mega world record, plans to go to Venus; Mars revisit on card

India plans to go to Venus for the first time and re-visit Mars very soon. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) now attempts to undertake its mega launch where it will drop off into space not one, two or three but a full load of 104 satellites in space in a single mission.

What’s noteworthy here is that no other country has ever tried to hit a century in a single mission. The last world record is held by Russia which in 2014 rocketed 37 satellites in a single launch using a modified inter-continental ballistic missile.

According to the plan charted, morning of February 15 ISRO will hurl into space using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) three Indian satellites and a 101 small foreign satellites.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also announced a whopping 23 per cent increase for Department of Space.

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Under the space sciences section, the budget mentions provisions "for Mars Orbiter Mission II and Mission to Venus".

The second mission to Mars is tentatively slated for in 2021-2022 timeframe and the plan may also involve putting a robot on the surface of Mars.

With PTI Inputs