On February 14, 2022 at 06:17 hours IST India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C52 stationed Earth Observation Satellite EOS-04, into an intended sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km elevation, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota.
At 05:59 IST, PSLV lifted off from the first launch pad at SHAR. This was the 80th launch vehicle mission, the 54th PSLV flight, and the 23rd PSLV flight in XL configuration (6 strap-on motors) from Sriharikota SDSC SHAR.
The ISRO satellites
The EOS-04 satellite is produced at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. It’s a Radar Imaging Satellite with the objective to provide high-resolution photographs under all weather conditions for multiple applications such as agricultural, forestry, and plantation applications, as well as soil moisture and hydrology and flood mapping. It weighs roughly around 1710 kilograms, provides 2280 W of power, and has a 10-year mission life.
The vehicle also placed two small satellites: an Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology’s student satellite (INSPIREsat-1) in collaboration with the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder’s, and an ISRO technology demonstrator satellite (INS-2TD) that is a predecessor to the India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B). The co-passenger satellites separated from the PSLV successfully, in a predetermined order. Shri S Samantha, the Chairman of ISRO, praised the ISRO team for their precision in accomplishing the mission.
