ISRO to launch SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission on Sunday, Aug 7; details

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission on Sunday, August 7, 2022 from Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota. ISRO is also inviting the public to the Launch View Gallery at SDSC to witness the launch, scheduled at 9:18AM this sunday.

The Indian space agency developed a small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) to cater the launch of up to 500 kg satellites to Low Earth Orbits on ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. The first developmental flight SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission is scheduled for this Sunday at 09:18 am (IST) from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. SSLV-D1 mission would launch EOS-02, a 135 kg Satellite, into low earth orbit of about 350 km to the equator, at an inclination of about 37 degrees. The mission also carries AzaadiSAT satellite.

SSLV is configured with three solid stages 87 t, 7.7 t and 4.5 t. The launch vehicle is capable of launching Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to a 500 km planar orbit. SSLV-D1 is a 34 m tall, 2 m diameter vehicle having a lift-off mass of 120 t.

SSLV program provides low-cost access to Space on-demand basis. It offers low turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, minimal launch infrastructure requirements, etc.

EOS-02 is an earth observation satellite designed and realised by ISRO. This micosat series satellite offers advanced optical remote sensing operating in infra-red band with high spatial resolution. The bus configuration is derived from IMS-1 bus.

AzaadiSAT is a 8U Cubesat weighing around 8 kg. It carries 75 different payloads each weighing around 50 grams and conducting femto-experiments. Girl students from rural regions across the country were provided guidance to build these payloads. The payloads are integrated by the student team of “Space Kidz India”. The payloads include a UHF-VHF Transponder working in ham radio frequency to enable voice and data transmission for amateur radio operators, a solid state PIN diode-based Radiation counter to measure the ionising radiation in its orbit, a long-range transponder and a selfie camera. The ground system developed by ‘Space Kidz India’ will be utilised for receiving the data from this satellite.