ISRO's maiden SSLV carrying earth observation, student satellite suffers 'data loss' at terminal stage
ISRO's Sunday mission is the third this year after the successful PSLV-C53 mission on June 30, which is the dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Sunday informed the space agency's maiden Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) suffered "data loss" at the terminal stage, although three stages "performed and separated," and said the space agency was analysing the data to ascertain the status of the vehicle and the satellites.
SSLV-D1/EOS 02 was carrying an earth observation satellite and a student satellite.
"All stages performed as expected. The first stage performed and separated, second stage performed and separated, the third stage also performed and separated, and in the terminal phase of the mission, some data loss is occurring and we are analysing the data and we will comeback on the status of the satellites as well as the vehicle performance soon," Somanath said from the Mission Control Centre, minutes after the launch vehicle lifted off from the spaceport.
"We are currently in the process of analysing the data to conclude on the final outcome of the mission with respect to stable orbit achieved or not, please wait and we will come back," he added.
A jubilant mood in the Mission Control Centre soon made way to anxiety, before Somanath updated about the mission status.
ISRO's maiden small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV), carrying earth observation satellite EOS-02 and co-passenger students satellite AzaadiSAT lifted off from this spaceport on Sunday.
ISRO has embarked on a mission to place satellites that weigh up to 500 kg into the 500 km low earth orbit, as it aims for a bigger share of the demanding SSLV market.
The objective of the SSLV is to place satellites EOS-02 and AzaadiSAT, into low earth orbit.
The lift-off took place at 9.18 am (IST). its scheduled time, from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), about 135 km from Chennai.
Unlike ISRO’s trusted workhorse -- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) – the SSLV can carry payloads weighing up to 500 kg and deploy satellites into a 500 km low earth orbit.
It uses solid fuel -- hydroxyl terminated polubutadiene -- to fire the first three stages which takes the payloads to the desired altitude.
The fourth stage comprises a liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) to place the satellites into orbit.
The main payload on the 34-meter-tall rocket is the earth observation-02 satellite and co-passenger satellite AzaadiSAT, an 8-kg Cubesat designed by the girl students from government schools across the country to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence.
The earth observation satellite designed by ISRO offers advanced optical remote sensing operating in infra-red bands with high spatial resolution. EOS-02 belongs to the microsatellite series of spacecraft.
The objective of the EOS-02 is to provide inputs on thermal anomalies for supporting applications in the domains of geo-environmental studies, forestry, hydrology, agriculture, soil, and coastal studies.
The AzaadiSAT carries 75 different payloads each weighing around 50 grams. Girl students from rural regions across the country were provided guidance to build these payloads which are integrated by the student team of 'Space Kidz India', ISRO said.
The ground system developed by Space Kidz India would be utilised for receiving the data from this satellite.
Sunday's mission of ISRO is the third this year after the successful PSLV-C53 mission on June 30, which is the dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd.
On February 14, ISRO successfully placed earth observation satellite EOS-04 on board its trusted workhorse PSLV-C52/EOS-04 mission.
The radar imaging satellite was designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry and plantations.
(With inputs from PTI)