ISRO SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES SSLV-D2

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs February 11, 2023 GS3 Leave a comment 166 Views

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its second developmental flight of a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle — SSLV-D2 — and placed three satellites in precise orbit.
The three satellites are ISRO’s Earth Observation Satellite EOS-07, U.S.-based firm Antaris’ Janus-1 and Chennai-based space start-up SpaceKidz’s AzaadiSAT-2.
SSLV-D2 lifted off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR, Sriharikota, at 9.18 a.m. This is the first satellite launch in 2023.
The vehicle injected satellites into close to 450 km circular orbit at an inclination of 37.2 degrees. The tracking network took control of EOS-07 satellite. Deployment of the solar panels and the generation of power is confirmed.”
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said, “In its second attempt SSLV-D2 has placed the EOS-07 satellite in its intended orbit very accurately. Two more satellites, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2, were also placed in the required orbit.”
SSLV had its maiden flight SSLV-D1 and we had a narrow miss of placing the satellite in the orbit because of a shortfall in velocity.
Today, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) successfully launched three satellites into their intended orbits.
In its second developmental flight, the SSLV-D2 vehicle placed EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 satellites into their intended 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of 37 degrees. It took-off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 09:18 hours IST and took about 15 minutes to inject the satellites.
SSLV is the new small satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO to cater the launch of small satellites up to 500 kg to Low Earth Orbits on ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. It is configured with three solid stages 87 t, 7.7 t and 4.5 t respectively.
SSLV is a 34 m tall, 2 m diameter vehicle having a lift-off mass of 120 t. A liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) achieves desired velocity for the insertion of the satellites into the intended orbit. SSLV is capable of launching Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to a 500 km orbit.
It provides low-cost access to Space, offers low turn-around time, facilitates flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites and demands minimal launch infrastructure.
In its first developmental flight on August 7, 2022, SSLV-D1 had marginally missed to place the satellites. SSLV-D2 implemented the recommendations made by the expert committee that analysed the shortcomings of SSLV-D1 flight.
SSLV-D2 carried EOS-07, a 153.6 kg Earth Observation Satellite realised by ISRO; Janus-1, a technology demonstration satellite weighing 10.2 kg belong ANTARIS, USA; and AzaadiSAT-2, an 8.8 kg satellite realised by Space Kidz India by integrating various scientific payloads developed by 750 girl students across India.
With today’s successful launch India has got a new launch vehicle which was aimed to commercialise the small satellite launches through Industry on demand basis. ISRO looks forward for catering to the increasing global need of launching smaller satellites into Space.