ISRO to launch SSLV-D1 on August 7; check details here

• Image Credit: Internet

• Aug 2, 2022 | Dhupali Das

The SSLV will carry one of India's Earth Observation Satellites- EOS-2- on its first flight, which will be used for mapping and creating various GIS applications...

Digital Desk: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch its newly developed Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) on August 7, ahead of the country's Independence Day celebrations.

"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 said on Twitter.

This is important since India was slated to mark its 75th anniversary of independence with the first human spaceflight, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in his speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, 2018.

Due to the epidemic, work on the Gaganyaan mission, the nation's first manned space flight was delayed. The first abort test, which will show how to deploy the crew escape mechanism in the event of a midflight emergency, is now scheduled for later this year.

Due to the pandemic, the SSLV mission was also postponed by a couple of years. Experts thought that since the new launch vehicle was created with commercial launches of tiny satellites and rapid turnaround times for the missions in mind, it might hurt the space agency's financial prospects in the global space market.

The SSLV will carry one of India's Earth Observation Satellites- EOS-2- on its first flight, which will be used for mapping and creating various GIS applications.

It will be equipped with a 6-meter-resolution mid-wavelength infrared camera as well as a long-wavelength infrared camera. The satellite, which weighs 142 kg, will be in orbit for ten months.

"The launch of the SSLV was long overdue. It will relieve Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles of the responsibility for commercial launches (PSLV) and will probably provide a speedy, inexpensive launch for tiny satellites. Given the support given to space entrepreneurs, ISRO should have the resources to carry it out," said Ajey Lele, a senior fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

On its first flight, SSLV will also carry the AzadiSat, a satellite created by 750 rural kids from across the nation under the direction of the space start-up SpaceKidz India.

On Monday, the satellite was shipped to Sriharikota, where it will be integrated with the launch vehicle.

The SSLV is expected to cost a fourth as much as the PSLV because it is primarily intended as a commercial spacecraft. It can also be assembled in seven days by a team of six people, as compared to a team of 600 people, which takes several months to assemble a PSLV.