Chennai: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch Cartosat-2 series satellite and the 28-hour countdown started on Thursday morning.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 42nd flight (PSLV-C40), will launch the 710-kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation and 30 co-passenger satellites weighing about 613 kg at lift-off.

PSLV-C40 will be launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, on Friday at 9.29 am.

The co-passenger satellites comprise a microsatellite and a Nanosatellite from India as well as three microsatellites and 25 nanosatellites from six countries – Canada, Finland, France, Republic of Korea, the UK and the US. The total weight of all the 31 satellites carried onboard PSLV-C40 would be about 1,323 kg.

The 28 international customer satellites were being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), a Government of India company under Department of Space (DOS), the commercial arm of ISRO and international customers.