The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) will be conducting the first launch of 2022 tomorrow, February 14. The first launch of the year will see the lift-off of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on its 54th mission to space, according to the organization.
The launch of the PSLV will take place tomorrow, February 14, at 5:59 am from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. What’s interesting about this mission is that the PSLV will be carrying three satellites to space in this mission.
ISRO will be launching the Earth Observation Satellite-04 and two rideshare payloads - a student satellite and a mission that will lay the foundation for a future India-Bhutan Joint Satellite project. This launch comes over six months after the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-03) launch was pushed due to a technical anomaly.
The space agency will be launching three satellites into space in this mission, which are the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04), student satellite INSPIREsat-1, and a technology demonstrator satellite called INS-2TD.
The Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04), which is also called the Radar Imagining Satellite (RISAT), has been designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry & plantations, soil moisture & hydrology, and flood mapping.
The EOS-04 with a mission Alife of 10 years is a repeat microwave remote sensing satellite of Risat-1 and is configured to ensure continuity of SAR in C-Band providing microwave data to the user community for operational services.
The satellite will play a strategic role in the nation’s defence with its capability to operate in the day, night, and all weather conditions with a mission life of five years. While the EOS-04 remains the prime focus of the ISRO mission, the two other satellites hitching a ride to space are INSPIREsat-1 (17.5 kg) and INS-2TD (8.1 kg) satellites.
The INSPIREsat-1 is a student satellite from the Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (11ST) in association with the Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at the University of Colorado, USA. The other contributors are NTU, Singapore, and NCU, Taiwan.
The satellite carries two scientific payloads to improve the understanding of ionosphere dynamics and the sun’s coronal heating process.
Though the first launch of the year for ISRO is set to take place tomorrow, the launch of the four-ton communication satellite GSAT-24 is also scheduled during the first quarter of this year using the Ariane 5 rocket owned by Arianespace.
(With IANS inputs)
