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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday launched a record 104 satellites in one shot on board its workhorse rocket system, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Flying its 39th mission since it became operational in 1993, the PSLV — called PSLV-C37 for Wednesday’s mission — delivered into space a payload of 1,378 kg in its 38th consecutive successful flight. ISRO’s earth observation Cartosat-2 satellite (714 kg), from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, and its two “technology demonstration” nano satellites (INS-1 and 2) were the only Indian payloads on PSLV-C37. The rest were commercial launches for international customers, through agreements with ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation. Of the 101 foreign satellites launched by PSLV on Wednesday, 96 are from the US — including 88 from the start-up, Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based earth imaging company — while one satellite each is from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, Ka