India on Wednesday created history by successfully launching 104 satellites in a single space mission, breaking the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia in 2014.
The satellites were launched on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C37 from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh at 9.28 a.m. local time and were successfully placed into the polar sun synchronous orbit 28 minutes later.
Out of the 104 satellites, all but three were from foreign countries.
The main passenger was India's 714-kg Earth-mapping Cartosat 2 series satellite, capable of taking high-resolution images.
A total of 96 satellites belonged to the United States, while others were nano satellites from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UAE.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch.
"Nation is proud of this achievement, which has demonstrated, yet again, India's increasing space capabilities. I urge ISRO to continue to strive for the progress of our space capabilities," the Indian president said in a series of tweets.
The prime minister tweeted: "This remarkable feat by @isro is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists."
This was ISRO's second successful attempt after the launch of 23 satellites in one go in June 2015.
