New Delhi: The year 2019 was a year of several new beginnings for India’s space sector, with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) growing and progressing by leaps and bounds.

Though the crash landing of India’s moon lander Vikram on the lunar surface was heartbreaking, it captured the imagination of the entire world and inspired a whole generation.

Apart from that, 2019 saw ISRO scoring a couple of half-centuries, like putting into orbit 50 foreign satellites and also sending up its 50th Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The year also witnessed the ISRO touching the mark of 319-foreign satellite launches and deciding to go for another moon landing mission called Chandrayaan-3.

Here’s a list of ISRO satellites which were launched in the year 2019:

January 24, 2019: Microsat-R

On January 24, 2019, ISRO began its 2019 journey with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44) successfully injecting Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites into their designated orbits from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Chairman Dr K Sivan said the PSLV-C44 mission was unique as it was for the first time ISRO used the last stage of the rocket as a platform to perform experiments in space.

February 06, 2019: GSAT-31 

On February 6, 2019, communication satellite, GSAT-31 was successfully launched from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-247.

“GSAT-31 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage.  The satellite will provide communication services to Indian mainland and islands” ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said.

Apr 01, 2019: EMISAT

On April 1, 2019, PSLV-C45 successfully launched EMISAT and 28 international customer satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota.

The flight marked the first mission of PSLV-QL, a new variant of PSLV with four strap-on motors.EMISAT, a satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 bus weighing about 436 kg,  is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.

May 22, 2019: RISAT-2B

On May 22, 2019, PSLV-C46 successfully launched RISAT-2B satellite from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. RISAT-2B, a radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 615 kg is intended to provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan said, “With this launch, PSLV lofts 50 tonnes to space by launching 354 satellites, including national, student and foreign satellites.”

July 22, 2019: Chandrayaan 2

One of India’s most ambitious space missions, the 3840 kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was successfully launched into earth orbit via Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV MkIII-M1 on July 22, this year.

Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon, with an objective to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface.

This significant mission was aimed to further expand our knowledge about the Moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, etc leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.

On August 20, 2019, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into lunar orbit but on September 02, 2019, Vikram Lander was separated from the Orbiter in preparation for landing. On September 7, ISRO lost contact with the Vikram lander around 2.1 km over the lunar surface, in a setback to the country’s maiden attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon’s surface.

November 27, 2019: Cartosat-3 and 13 Commercial nanosatellites

On November 27, PSLV-C47 successfully launched Cartosat-3 along with 13 Nanosatellites of the USA from Satish Dhawan Space Centre  Sriharikota.

As per Dr Sivan, Cartosat-3 is the most complex and advanced earth observation satellite built by ISRO. He further added that it was a third-generation agile advanced satellite having high-resolution imaging capability. The satellite will address the increased user’s demands for large scale urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development, coastal land use and land cover etc.

December 11, 2019: RISAT-2BR1

In its last launch this year, PSLV-C48 successfully launched RISAT-2BR1 along with nine commercial satellites from Sriharikota. The nine customer satellites of Israel, Italy, Japan and the USA were precisely injected into their designated orbits.

RISAT-2BR1, a radar imaging earth observation satellite will provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management.

(Info sourced from ISRO’s official website)