Chennai: The Indian Space program will herald yet another
milestone when the maiden flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle
(SSLV), which will ferry Earth Observation Satellite-2 (EOS-2) and a
co-passenger satellite AzaadiSAT into a Low Earth Orbit will take place
tomorrow from the spaceport of Sriharikota.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today said the launch of
SSLV-D1 (first developmental flight) carrying the 142 kg EOS-02, equipped
with an infrared camera with a six-meter resolution, and a microsatellite will
take place from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre
(SDSC), SHAR Range, Sriharikota, at 0918 hrs.
The countdown for the SSLV-D1/EOS-02 mission will commence about
six-and-half- hours before the lift-off, ISRO sources said.
During the countdown, propellant filling operations will be carried out
in the 34 m tall, three-stage vehicle (all solid propulsion stages), which
has a lift-off mass of 120 tonnes, and all the rocket and satellite systems
will be checked.
The satellite insertion into the intended orbit will be achieved through a
liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM).
During the nearly 13-minute flight duration, the rocket will coast (will not
be powered by engines), twice for about four minutes during the
separation of the second and third stage and maintain its velocity using
the thrust developed from the lift-off.
About 742 seconds after the lift-off, SSLV will inject the EOS-2 at an altitude
of 356.30 km with an inclination of 37.21 deg to the equator. It will be followed by the separation and injection of AzaadiSAT about 50 seconds later.
SSLV is the new launch vehicle of ISRO capable of launching Mini, Micro or
Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to 500 km planar orbit.
The design drivers of SSLV are low cost, low turnaround time, flexibility in
accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, minimal
launch infrastructure requirements etc.,
