ISRO launches 3 satellites into orbit in Andhra Pradesh on Monday lifting off from the first launch-pad Satish Dhawan Space Center.
ISRO’s first launch of 2022 lifting off from the first launch-pad Satish Dhawan Space Center under the new Chairman S. Somanath went off smoothly placing all the three satellites into their intended orbit with precision.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s PSLV C-52 flared blazing orange fire in the dark silence of the pre-dawn skies soaring over the Pulicat Lake in Andhra Pradesh.
The PSLV C-52 was the 54th flight of the PSLV and the 23rd mission using the PSLV-XL configuration. The success of the launch was crucial for ISRO that had a very muted 2020 with just two launches, one of which – the GSLV- F10 failed after launch. The PSLV C-52 carrying the Earth Observation Satellite, EOS – 04, the INS-2TD, a technology demonstrator from ISRO, and the INSPIREsat-1, a student satellite, lifted off at 5.59 a.m from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota on Monday. Around 18 minutes later, the three satellites were separated and placed into their orbits.
“The primary satellite, the EOS – 04 has been put in a precise orbit. The co-passenger satellites have been placed into the right orbit,” Mr. Somanath said adding ISRO will be “back with the next launch of PSLV very soon”.
With a mission life of 10 years, the EOS-4, a radar imaging satellite is designed to provide high-quality images in all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry, plantation, flood mapping, soil moisture, and hydrology. The satellite will collect earth observation data in C-band and will complement and supplement the data from Resources at, Cartosat series, and RISAT-2B series, ISRO said. The INS-2TD is a precursor to the India-Bhutan joint satellite [INS 2-B] and will assess land and water surface temperatures, delineation of crops and forest, and thermal inertia.
The INSPIREsat-1 is a student satellite from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in association with the University of Colorado, USA, and is aimed at improving the understanding of ionosphere dynamics and the Sun’s coronal heating processes.
Satish Dhawan Space Center or Sriharikota Range is a rocket launch centre operated by Indian Space Research Organisation. It is located in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota Range was renamed in 2002 after ISRO’s former chairman Satish Dhawan.
The History of Satish Dhawan Space Center
Sriharikota Island was chosen in 1969 for a satellite launching station and became operational in 1971 when an RH-125 sounding rocket was launched with the first attempted launch of an orbital satellite, Rohini 1A aboard a Satellite Launch Vehicle, that took place on 10 August 1979. Due to a failure in thrust vectoring of the rocket’s second stage, the satellite’s orbit decayed on 19 August 1979. SHAR was named as ‘Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR’ (SDSC), on 5 September 2002, in memory of Satish Dhawan, former Chairman of the ISRO.
The SHAR facility now consists of two launch pads, with the second built in 2005. The second launch pad was used for launches beginning in 2005 and is a universal launch pad, accommodating all of the launch vehicles used by ISRO.
The two launch pads will allow multiple launches in a single year, which was not possible earlier. India’s lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 launched from the centre at 6:22 AM IST on 22 October 2008. India’s first Mars orbiter Mangalyaan was launched from the centre on 5 November 2013, which was successfully placed into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014.
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