India successfully launched 29 satellites on a single rocket, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced.

The satellites were launched aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C 45) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO, said, "1200 people watched and enjoyed today's PSLV C 45 launch from the new viewers' gallery at Sriharikota. Next time we will have 5,000 people watching the launch."

According to ISRO, apart from the Emisat, which was made in India, the PSLCV C 45 carried 28 nano satellites belonging to other countries. Of the 28 international customer satellites, 24 were from the US, two from Lithuania, and one each from Spain and Switzerland.

Weighing about 436 kg, EMISAT is based on ISRO’s Indian Mini Satellite -2 (IMS-2) bus platform. The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement. It utilises the PS4 orbital platform to host three payloads including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) from ISRO.

The event marks the first time that ISRO scientists have placed satellites and payloads in three different orbits.

The development comes days after India shot down one of its own satellites by using an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile, making them the fourth country in the world to develop ASAT capabilities.

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