Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Sunday carried out the first demonstration or test flight of its new, smaller rocket, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle or SSLV. As part of the mission (SSLV-D1), the rocket was to place Earth observation EOS-02 satellite weighing 145 kg and research spacecraft named 8-kg Azadisat Student CubeSat – Nanosatellites into a 350-km orbit.
While various parts or stages of the rocket successfully separated, there was some loss of data, potentially telemetry data, at the end of the mission. ISRO is yet to clarify the position of the satellites and the specifics of the data loss that occurred on Sunday.
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“All the stages performed as expected. 1st phase executed and detached, 2nd phase performed and detached, 3rd phase also performed and detached, and in the terminal phase of the mission, some data loss is happening and we are analyzing the data and we are on the situation Will return satellites as well as vehicle demonstration soon,” ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said after the launch.
One of the payloads was an Earth observation demonstrator, while the other was a student satellite built by 750 girl students from rural government schools across the country.
The SSLV small-life vehicle was launched from Sriharikota on the morning of 7 August, but when it becomes operational, it is expected to be launched from the upcoming dedicated launch pad at the same location as the Small Satellite Launch Complex (SSLC). is called.
With the launcher, ISRO now has three different vehicles with variable configurations, strengthening its capability to launch satellites into orbit. The 34-metre-high launcher can place a payload of up to 500 kg into a 500-km orbit, and is designed to carry mini, micro and nano satellites.
The next demo flight of the launcher is scheduled for later this year.
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payload
EOS-02 is an experimental optical remote sensing satellite weighing 145 kg, and will Do earth imaging once in orbit.
Will demonstrate capability to build and launch satellite imaging satellites within A short turnaround time. It is a Microsat series (11-200 kg). of spacecraft.
AzadiSat is an 8U CubeSat – miniature satellites that are 10 cm cubes, with eight stacked next to each other. It weighs 8 kg and carries 75 payloads of approximately 50 grams each.
The satellite was built by teams of ten girl students each from 75 rural government schools across the country, and was integrated by the team from Space Kids India.
The student satellite carries payloads for amateur radio, a transponder, a radiation counter, a magnetometer, gyroscope, and several basic, experimental science instruments.
It also has a selfie camera, the names of 35,000 children, 108 artifacts about India made by children aged 8-12, a recording of Rabindranath Tagore’s original rendition of the Indian national anthem and an original space-themed Hindi song.
Inspiration for Indian Girls in Steam
AzadiSat was conceived by the team at Space Kids India, who wanted to work with 750 girl students for the 75th year of India’s independence.
The team led by Dr. Mrs. Kesson approached 350 individual rural government schools in all states of the country, finally coming up with 75 teams from 75 schools including a juvenile home in Chennai. The team could not reach any institute in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
The organization communicated with the students on the video-conferencing platform Zoom, teaching them to code (Python, Intel 8085) on an electronic board.
students were also taught Basic circuitry and how to work with sensors. The students, many of whom did not have access to computers, thoroughly enjoyed the process and many insisted on watching the launch despite the financial support.
“Freedom is bringing everyone together, and that’s what we wanted to do,” Kesson told ThePrint, “462 kids came to Chennai for the launch.
“While we tried to get everyone here, for many, the finances and distances were too impractical for us to work,” she said.
Kesson’s team funded both the computers for the project as well as the travel and stay for most of the students. After taking more than 3,000 students to space centers in the US and Europe, Kesson’s organization is working toward funding one in Chennai.
“Space is imaginative, and kids are very attracted to it. Space is fun, and it can be made exciting for young children to read, learn, and understand,” she said.
“Children from rural villages are very articulate in their native languages, and they should also be given a platform to speak and speak about their achievements and understanding.”
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)
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