India's PSLV-C52 successfully puts EOS4, 2 small satellites into orbit

Sriharikota: The Indian Space and Research Organisation on Monday successfully launched the fourth Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04) onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The PSLV-C52 blasted into space at 5.59 am from the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, after a 25-hour countdown, putting the first mission launch of 2022 into action.

The countdown process of 25 hours and 30 minutes leading to the launch commenced at 4.29 am on Sunday after authorisation by the Launch Authorization Board. Two other satellites shared rides along with the EOS-04 that was placed in the Sun-Synchronous Orbit nearly 529 km above the earth.

The four-stage rocket lifted off with a student satellite INSPIRESat and a spacecraft dubbed INSAT-2DT -- a precursor of a joint Indo-Bhutan mission for future.

The Mission Control Room was abuzz, as the launch director announced that all three satellites were successfully deployed. ISRO chief S Somnath said: "The mission of PSLV-C52 has been successfully accomplished."

The EOS-04 is also Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) and has been designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions to aid applications meant for agriculture, flood mapping, soil moisture, forestry, plantations and hydrology.

The spacecraft will collect observation data in C-Band furthering the work done by Resourcesat, Cartosat, and RISAT-2B series. The satellite has an operating life of a decade. The 8.1-km INSPIRESat-1 has been developed by the Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology in association with the Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at the University of Colorado.

The satellite with a one-year-lifespan will aim to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the ionosphere and the sun's coronal heating process.

This was the first launch of PSLV since the failure of the EOS-03 mission in 2021. ISRO had declared that mission a failure citing a technical anomaly with the system.

With the first launch of 2022, ISRO has set in motion 18 other missions planned for later this year, including the high profile launch of Chandrayaan-3 to the Moon and the much-awaited unmanned Gaganyaan.

This mission of PSLV saw the launcher climb up in the SSO. The space agency plans to conduct the PSLV-C53 mission in March, which will carry OCEANSAT-3 and INS 2B ANAND into orbit.

Somnath earlier had said the agency plans five major satellite launches in the coming three months and a total of 19 missions this year. (UNI)