ISRO shocked as first SSLV mission suffers ‘data loss’

Prayas along with the history of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) suffered a setback on Sunday, as first small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) suffered “data loss” in the terminal phase, although the three phases “executed and separated” as planned and scientists were “currently analyzing” the data to find out the reason behind it. .

On Sunday morning, in its mission to place the Earth Observation Satellite and Student Satellite into low Earth orbit, SSLV-D1/EOS-02 The blast took place at exactly 9.18 am amidst clouds in the sky from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Center at this spaceport.

The 34-metre-tall rocket took off on Sunday after completing a nearly seven-and-a-half hour countdown.

Scientists at the Mission Control Center provided an update on the rocket’s health shortly after launch.

The media center screen showed that the satellite was well on its trajectory before the “data loss” as described by ISRO Chairman S Somnath.

“All the phases performed as expected. Phase I was demoted and separated, Phase II was performed and separated, Phase III was also performed and separated, and in the terminal phase of the mission, some data loss is occurring and we We are analyzing the data and we will come back soon on the position of the satellites as well as the performance of the vehicle,” he said minutes after launch from the Mission Control Center.

ISRO scientists uneasy

Mr. Before Somnath updated the status of the mission, a gleeful mood soon gave way to anxiety at the Mission Control Center as scientists were seen glued to computer screens and confused.

There is no official word on the success of the mission, as scientists were currently analyzing data from the rocket and there is no official confirmation on the mission’s success yet.

From the screen displayed at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, it was seen that the two satellites – the Earth Observation Satellite and AzadiSat – separated as planned.

After establishing itself with the successful launch of various satellites using its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), ISRO targeted the SSLV market which would launch satellites up to 500 km low Earth orbit. holds in class.

EOS-02 and AzadiSat

Earth observation satellite EOS-02 and co-passenger student satellite azadisat The major payloads for SSLV are.

EOS-02 is an experimental optical remote sensing satellite with high spatial resolution. It is to realize and fly an experimental imaging satellite with a short turnaround time and demonstrate launch-on-demand capability. EOS-02 belongs to the microsatellite series of spacecraft.

AzadiSat is an 8U CubeSat weighing about 8 kg. It carries 75 different payloads, each weighing about 50 grams. Guidance for manufacturing these payloads was provided to girl students from rural areas across the country.

The payload has been integrated by the student team of ‘Space Kidz India’. ISRO said that the ground system developed by ‘Space Kids India’ will be used to receive data from this satellite.

The reliable PSLV also failed in its maiden flight.

This is not the first time ISRO has faced setback on its maiden launch mission as PSLV – said to be one of the dependable workhorses for the space agency – did not succeed en route to its maiden flight on September 20, 1993.

After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as India’s reliable and versatile launch vehicle with 39 consecutive successful missions till June 2017.

It also successfully launched Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter spacecraft in 2013, the latter of which traveled to the Moon and Mars respectively.

The first flight of GSLV in April 2001 was successful for ISRO with GSAT-1. ISRO said the vehicle has achieved four successive successes since January 2014.

The first developmental flight of GSLV Mk-III successfully placed the GSAT-19 satellite in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on June 5, 2017.