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Sriharikota: On Friday morning at 9.18, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched its smallest rocket SSLV-D2 from Sriharikota Satish Dhawan Space Center. ISRO Chief S Somnath congratulated all the 3 satellite teams for making the satellites as well as placing them in the right orbit after the launch.
SSLV-D2/EOS-07 Mission: Countdown begins tomorrow at 0248 hrs ISThttps://t.co/D8lncJrx8K
Watch the launch LIVE from 0845 hrs IST at https://t.co/DaHF8JKLUg https://t.co/V0ccOnT4d5https://t.co/zugXQAYy1y
from 0855 hrs IST at https://t.co/7FmnWEm1YF @DDNational pic.twitter.com/tfNWGyJNM4
— ISRO (@isro) February 9, 2023
ISRO Chief said, ‘We analyzed the problems encountered in SSLV-D1 and then made necessary improvements. This time they were implemented at a very fast pace to make the launch vehicle a success.’
ISRO had reported that the new rocket could lift three satellites – ISRO’s EOS-07, US-based firm Antaris’ Janus-1 and Chennai-based space startup SpaceKidz’s AzaadiSAT-2 into a 450-km circular orbit during its 15-minute flight, which has been developed by 750 girl students from across India, according to the space agency.
According to ISRO, SSLV caters to the launch of satellites up to 500 kg into low earth orbits on a ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. SSLV is a 34 meter long, 2 meter diameter vehicle, weighing 120 tonnes. The rocket is configured with a Velocity Terminal Module.
EOS-07 is a 156.3 kg satellite designed and developed by ISRO. New experiments include the mm-wave humidity sounder and spectrum monitoring payloads. Whereas, Janus-1 is an American satellite of 10.2 kg. At the same time, AzaadiSAT-2 is an 8.7 kg satellite, which has been prepared by 750 students of Space Kids India with the help of the Government of India.
The first test flight of SSLV failed on August 9 last year. According to ISRO, investigation into the failure revealed that there was a vibration disturbance for a short duration on the Equipment Bay (EB) deck during the separation of the second stage. The vibrations affected the Inertial Navigation System (INS), resulting in sensor malfunction of the Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) software.
