The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch 83 satellites, 80 of them foreign, in one go in January.

• The 80 satellites. weighing 500 kg, belong to Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S. “These international customer satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangement between them and Antrix Corporation Ltd., the commercial arm and PSU under the ISRO.
• It will be the first of its kind mission in the ISRO’s space history. The three Indian satellites are Cartosat-2 series, weighing 730 kg as primary payload; INS-IA and INS-1B, totally weighing 30 kg.

ISRO:

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is the space agency of the Government of Republic of India headquartered in the city of Bengaluru. Its vision is to “harness space technology for national development”, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration.

Formed in 1969, ISRO superseded the erstwhile Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) established in 1962 by the efforts of independent India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.

The establishment of ISRO thus institutionalised space activities in India. It is managed by the Department of Space, which reports to the Prime Minister of The Republic of India.