ISRO’s small satellite launch vehicle SSLV-D2 carrying EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 satellites sits on a launch pad ahead of launch at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on February 9, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@isro via PTI
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will conduct the second development flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) from Sriharikota on Friday. SSLV-D2 will lift off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR, Sriharikota at exactly 09:18 hrs IST. The vehicle is intended to place ISRO’s EOS-07, US-based company Anteris’s Janus-1 and Chennai-based space start-up Space Kidz’s Azadisat-2 satellites into a circular orbit of 450 km in its 15-minute flight.
EOS-07 is a 156.3 kg satellite designed, developed and manufactured by ISRO. Its mission objective is to design and develop payload equipment compatible with the new technologies required for the micro-satellite bus and future operational satellites. It will also design and develop a micro satellite accommodating new technology payloads in quick turn-around time. New experiments include the mm-wave humidity sounder and spectrum monitoring payloads.
Janus-1 weighing approximately 10.2 kg is a technology demonstrator, smart satellite mission based on the Antaris software platform. The 8.7 kg satellite, Azadisat-2 is a joint effort of about 750 girl students from across India, led by Space Kidz India, Chennai.
As per the details provided by ISRO, SSLV caters to the launch of satellites up to 500 kg into low earth orbits on a ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. It provides low-cost access to space, short turn-around times and the flexibility to accommodate multiple satellites, and demands minimal launch infrastructure. It is configured with three solid propulsion stages and a velocity terminal module. It is a 34 m long, 2 m diameter vehicle with a lift off mass of 120 tonnes.