The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved milestone with their 100th launch on Wednesday. The space organisation successfully launched their GSLV-F15 carrying the NVS-02 on 6:23 AM at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This is ISRO’s 100th launch from the country’s space port. After the successful launch, ISRO posted on X, “Mission Success! The GSLV-F15/NVS-02 mission has been successfully accomplished. India reaches new heights in space navigation!”
ISRO Chairman Expresses Gratitude
ISRO Chairman, V Narayanan expressed happiness and gratitude on the 100th launch. He called it a significant milestone of India’s space programme.
Addressing the event, Narayanan said, “I am extremely happy to announce from the spaceport of ISRO that the first launch of this year has been successfully accomplished. The GSLV-F15 vehicle launch vehicle precisely injecting the navigation satellite NVS-02 into orbit. This mission is the 100th launch from our launch pads which is a significant milestone for India.”
“Today’s mission was the 17th launch of GSLV. In this mission, the data has come, all the vehicle systems have performed as expected and the satellite is injected with a very minimum level of dispersal,” he added.
Jitendra Singh Congratulates ISRO
Union Minister Jitendra Singh congratulated ISRO on its 100th Launch. The Minister said, “100th Launch: Congratulations ISRO for achieving the landmark milestone of 100th Launch from Sriharikota. It’s a privilege to be associated with the Department of Space at the historic moment of this record feat. Team ISRO, you have once again made India proud with successful launch of GSLV-F15 / NVS-02 Mission. From a humble beginning by Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan and few others, it has been an amazing journey. And a quantum leap after PM Modi “unlocked” the Space sector and instilled the confidence that “sky is Not the limit.”
About GSLV-F15
GSLV-F15 is the 17th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and 11th flight with Indigenous Cryo stage. It is the 8th operational flight of GSLV with an indigenous Cryogenic stage. GSLV-F15 payload fairing is a metallic version with a diameter of 3.4 meters. The GSLV-F15 with indigenous Cryogenic stage will place NVS-02 satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, ISRO said in a statement.
Students Witness ISRO’s 100th Launch
To make this event memorable, multiple students were given the opportunity to witness the launch near the launchpad itself.
Teerth, from Gujarat told ANI, “I came from my college to witness the 100th launch, I am really excited. ISRO is not launching various foreign countries’ satellite, so we are generating income from that also, so it is a really impressive step from the Indian government and ISRO.”
Another student, Avinash, from Bihar told ANI that it is his first time witnessing a launch.
“Really excited about it, we are here to witness the take-off. All the best to the scientists and anyone else who have worked on this. We are really excited for this, this is the first time I get to witness this, we had been trying for four years to witness this and finally we got the chance,” the student said.