Watch a Record 104 Satellites Tumble Into Orbit

An Indian rocket delivered a record-setting 104 satellites into orbit Tuesday night. A camera on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle captured the spacecraft, most of them tiny CubeSats, as they tumbled into orbit—the most placed into orbit by a single vehicle. A majority of the satellites belong to a U.S.-based company called Planet which hopes to establish a network of tiny satellites to provide near-real-time imaging of Earth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0BpjPUT5FE An Indian cartography satellite and two experimental nanosatellites, weather-monitoring CubeSats and student-built experimental craft were also on board. The 101 CubeSats took flight shortly after the rocket entered orbit in a carefully orchestrated maneuver involving 25 "Quadpacks." Packed with four tiny probes apiece, the Quadpacks used a spring-assisted delivery system to eject the probes into orbit two at a time. The 88 satellites from Planet, called Doves, will join 12 others already in orbit to form a string of small ...