New Delhi. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has achieved another major success today. Earth Observation Satellite-8 (EOS-08) was successfully placed in orbit through Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D3). The launch took place from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. Earlier in February 2023, the second test flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D2-EOS-07) was also successfully completed.
ISRO said that the SSLV-D3 rocket placed the EOS-08 satellite in orbit without any fault. According to ISRO, this mission also proved to be a “text book mission” like other successful missions.
Third mission of 2024
This mission is the third successful mission of 2024 for ISRO. Earlier, PSLV-C58/XpoSat in January and GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS missions were successfully launched in February. The countdown for the launch of the SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission began at 02.47 am IST on August 16 and the launch took place at 9:19 am from Satish Dhawan Space Center.
What is the objective of this mission?
The main objective of this mission was to design and develop microsatellites, as well as to build payload equipment compatible with microsatellites and to incorporate new technologies for future satellites. This mission of ISRO completed the developmental flight of the smallest rocket that can put satellites weighing up to 500 kg into low Earth orbit.
NewSpace India Limited will get a boost
This mission of ISRO will also give a boost to its commercial arm NewSpace India Limited, which will be able to carry out commercial launches in the future using small satellite launch vehicles in collaboration with the industry.
The EOS-08 satellite has a mission life of one year, weighs about 175.5 kg and generates a power of 420 watts. It will be used for satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, and many other disaster monitoring tasks. In addition, the second GNSS-R payload will be important for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture estimation, and flood detection.
