ISRO to launch maiden Small Satellite Launch Vehicle mission on August 7 - What is its significance?

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch its new rocket named the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) on August 7. The launch will take place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota in Andra Pradesh.

The space research organisation announced that the launch would take place at 9:18 a.m. IST on Sunday, and added that the public will be permitted to watch the event up-close from ISRO’s launch viewer gallery. “The launch of the SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission is scheduled for Sunday, August 7, 2022, at 9:18 am (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. ISRO invites citizens to the Launch View Gallery at SDSC to witness the launch,” ISRO tweeted, along with the registration link.

The ground testing for the newly developed launch vehicle, SSLV, was conducted in March this year at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with all propulsion parameters found to be satisfactory as they closely matched the predictions.

The maiden launch of SSLV

ISRO’s main aim to conduct the maiden launch of its SSLV is to attract the emerging small satellite market and compete with the commercial satellite market. The brainchild of current Isro chief S Somnath, the SSLV will provide launch-on-demand services to domestic and international customers. The newly-created solid booster stage (SS1) for SSLV is a three-segmented solid propulsion stage incorporating different new technologies and advanced processes that include a bond-free joint between the segments, high power electromechanical actuator with digital control electronics, an optimised igniter and simultaneous propellant casting of all segments. All of these were validated in the ground test. The SSLV mission was delayed by a couple of years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts believed that this delay would hamper economic prospects in the global space market.

On its first flight, SSLV will carry one of India’s Earth Observation Satellites, EOS-2, which will map out and develop various geographic information systems (GIS). The satellite weighs around 142 kg and has a mission life of about 10 months. There will be a mid-wavelength infrared camera and a long-wavelength infrared camera with a resolution of 6 metres.

The SSLV will also carry the ‘AzaadiSAT,’ a satellite developed by 750 rural girl students. Weighing about 8 kg, this student-built satellite carries 75 miniature payloads referred to as the ‘femto experiments.’ It is equipped with a selfie camera to study the performance of solar panels in space and has transponder experiments that generate low bandwidth connectivity to IOT devices at remote locations. It also has a messaging system for radio operators, sensors that monitor temperature, humidity and pressure, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a magnetometer.

The significance of the launch

SSLV has been primarily designed as a commercial vehicle and costs about a fourth of the current Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This means that ISRO’s workhorse (PSLV) will be freed for bigger projects. SSLV can be assembled by a group of six people within just seven days, whereas PSLV needs a team of 600 people and a few months to be assembled.

“The SSLV is the smallest vehicle at 110-mass at ISRO. It will take only 72 hours to integrate, unlike the 70 days taken now for a launch vehicle. Only six people will be required to do the job, instead of 60 people. The entire job will be done in a very short time and the cost will only be around Rs. 30 crore. It will be an on-demand vehicle,” K Sivan, the former chairman of ISRO had stated in 2019 at the ISRO headquarters during an annual press conference.

“It is perfectly suited for launching multiple microsatellites at a time and supports multiple orbital drop-offs. We are excited to add SSLV to our launch portfolio and manage many launches together — first to LEO (low earth orbit) mid-inclinations this year and SSO missions starting in the fall of 2020,” Spaceflight CEO and president Curt Blake said in 2019.

With launches like this, India can try and get ahead in the space race, which is currently dominated by the United States, Russia and China. It is yet to be seen whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to put astronauts in space by 2022 will be fulfilled. But launches like SSLV might be the start of something big.