ISRO's SSLV-D3 Successfully Launches EOS-08, Achieving Another Milestone in Space Exploration

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has achieved another major success today. The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-D3) SSLV-D3 launched Earth Observation Satellite-8 (EOS-08) from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. This is after the second successful launch of the second test flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D2-EOS-07) in February 2023.

After the successful launch, ISRO said that the EOS-08 satellite has been successfully placed in orbit with the help of the SSLV-D3 rocket. Like the other missions of SSLV, today's mission has also been a textbook mission. Not even a small mistake has been made.

After the successful launch of PSLV-C58/XpoSat in January and GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS missions in February, today's mission is the third mission in 2024 for the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency. ISRO said the six-and-a-half-hour countdown ahead of the launch of the SSLV-D3-EOS08 mission had begun at 02.47 pm IST.

The smallest SSLV rocket, which is about 34 meters tall, was planned for launch at 9.17 am on August 15 and was later launched at 9:19 am on August 16 from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here.

ISRO said the primary objectives of the SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission are to design and develop a microsatellite, build payload equipment compatible with microsatellites and to inculcate new technologies required for future operational satellites. With today's mission, ISRO has completed the developmental flight of the smallest rocket, which can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg and put them in low Earth orbit (500 km above the Earth). The mission will also give a boost to NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO, to undertake commercial launches using such small satellite launch vehicles in collaboration with the industry.

The spacecraft has a mission life of one year. It has a mass of about 175.5 kg. It generates a power of about 420 watts. The satellite interfaces with the SSLV-D3/IBL-358 launch vehicle, ISRO said. The first payload EOIR is designed to capture images in the mid-wave IR (MIR) and long-wave IR (LWIR) bands during both day and night. It is used for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation and industrial and lightning disaster monitoring.

The second GNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture estimation, cryosphere studies in the Himalayan region, flood detection and inland water body detection.