National
February 14, 2022
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s earth observation satellite EOS-04 and two small satellites were successfully placed into the intended orbit by the PSLV-C52 rocket marking as the first launch mission of the year 2022.
According to the reports, the space agency’s workhorse launch vehicle, PSLV, placed the three satellites into the intended orbit, after blasting off at 5.59 am from here amid dark, early morning skies. After a flight of about 19 minutes, the vehicle-injected the satellites into its intended orbit, drawing instant cheers and applause from the scientists who were closely monitoring the year’s maiden mission. ISRO, in a tweet, said EOS-04 was placed into an intended sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529 km altitude at 6.17 am.
After first injecting EOS-04, the two small satellites INSPIREsat-1 and INS-2TD were also put into their orbits respectively. ISRO Chairman S Somanath stated that the mission of PSLV-C52/EOS-04 has been successfully accomplished. The primary satellite EOS-04 has been put into a very precise orbit by PSLV-C52, and along with that, co-passenger satellites INSPIREsat-1 and INS-2TD also have been placed into the right orbit.
INSPIREsat-1 is from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in association with the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, while INS-2TD is a technology demonstrator satellite from ISRO. This is a precursor to the India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B). Two scientific payloads on INSPIREsat-1, with a mass of 8.1 kg and a mission life of one year, are aimed at improving the understanding of ionosphere dynamics and the sun’s coronal heating processes.
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