As far as 'packaged delivery' is concerned, ISRO might have a lesson or two to teach Amazon - the company that's famous for sending fridge-magnets in boxes bigger than your refrigerator. After all, just recently, ISRO successfully sent a whopping 104 satellites into space all tightly packed in just one rocket. And now, the Indian space agency is at it again. This time, though, they're sending significantly fewer number of satellites in one go - 31 to be precise - and are calling in their trusty PSLV C-38 to get the job done. ALSO READ ISRO has plans to build a rocket that runs on kerosene

While 31 might be sound a tad smaller and less impressive than 104, this launch is a progressive next step and an even bigger boost to the launch-market's confidence in ISRO. That's because, when ISRO launched 104 satellites last time, a massive 96 of them belonged to the US alone, while Israel, Kazakhstan and three other countries also sent a maximum of two satellites each. However, this time around a good 14 countries, many of them big players in the space market, have put their confidence on ISRO - which also means, the agency's got a lot to prove on Friday, June 22.

The launch, scheduled for tomorrow, began its countdown today and like the record-breaking launch which had 104 tiny to mid-sized satellites, this one will also be carrying a Cartosat-2 Series Satellite, which weighs a whopping 712 kg. While usually, you'd be happy if your important cargo makes its way to its destination safely, ISRO being ISRO decided to piggyback a whopping 30 mini-satellites, of which 29 belong to foreign countries - including Austria, Belgium, Chile, UK and the US. It also has one nano-sat from India. The PSLV will launch the total payload of 955 kg in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) and the launch will mark the 40th launch of the rocket (and 17th one of its XL variant). ALSO READ Here's why you should be proud of ISRO's most powerful rocket, the GSLV Mk III

Cost mathematics and the 'Cheap Alternative':

When you hear 'Space startup', you'd probably think of SpaceX, ArianeSpace or even the recent New Zealand firm with the tiny rocket - Rocket Lab. But there's a good chance that you might have never heard of one based right here in Bangalore called 'Antrix'. This, despite the fact that it pooled in an impressive revenue of $280 million in FY 2014-15 and according to some sources this grew by over 200 per cent in 2015 alone. Antrix, is actually the commercial wing of ISRO that represents it in the global market. According to reports, based on ISRO's current charges, it made an estimated of $300 million on that one launch of 101 foreign satellites alone. Plus, with the induction of the GSLV Mk-III which can carry payloads of upto 4,000 kg, ISRO's capacity has taken a huge leap and is primed to take a larger share of the estimated $400-billion-plus space economy. DON'T MISS The women of ISRO

Can it beat SpaceX?

Nobody bets on the little guy right from the get go. However, by lining up one impressive feat after another and boasting of a 100 per cent success rate for launching foreign satellites - slowly but surely ISRO (and Antrix) are gaining a lot of cred on the market. But while ISRO already boasts of costs up to 60 per cent less than that of companies like ArianeSpace, where SpaceX beats ISRO squarely is its advancement in re-usable launch vehicle technology. With the Falcon 9, SpaceX has already demonstrated the technology.

While ISRO already has plans in pipeline for a re-usable launch vehicle along the lines of the NASA Space Shuttle - the timeline for when it will be ready for commercial use has been touted as far away as 2030. But a government backing and the role of 'rocket diplomacy' (collaborations as part of diplomatic relationships) will surely play a big role in ISRO's success.

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