'Eye in sky': ISRO launches advanced earth observation satellite for 'strategic data'

ISRO on Friday made its way into history books yet again with the successful launch of the countrys first ever imaging satellite in geoorbit placing the over 2300 kg payload into a precise orbit using a GSLV rocket Fridays launch marked the space agencys maiden success for the year 2026The EOS05 satellite was successfully placed in the intended subgeosynchronous transfer orbit about 18 minutes after it lifted off from the spaceport ISRO announcedWhile several earth observation satellites operate from low earth orbit LEO the EOS5 satellite is set to hover at an altitude of roughly 36000 km above earth which is the geosynchronous orbit and at that level the satellite will match Earths rotational speedAt over 2300 kg this is the heaviest satellite ever to be carried by a GSLV and the satellite was perfectly ahead in its trajectory The eye in the sky as one of the senior scientists involved in the mission described the satellite is set to provide realtime imagery and help the nation in areas including agriculture and disaster managementThe mission success following some earlier failures was apparently a morale booster A beaming ISRO chief V Narayanan said I am very happy to announce that the GSLV F17 vehicle has successfully and precisely injected the advanced EOS05 geo imaging satellite in the intended and required orbitThis is the 107th launch from Srihariharikota and the 19th mission of GSLV the Secretary Department of Space flanked by key scientists involved in the mission said soon after the launchHe recalled that the first launch of GSLV D1 was done with a payload of 1536 kg and since then gradually ISRO improved the performance of GSLV by optimising the structural mass and improving the propulsion systems Today we have injected the heaviest satellite 2367 kg using this launch vehicleOnce the EOS05 is operationalised in the orbit it will become Indias first dedicated imaging satellite from the geoorbit providing strategic data for the country he said Quoting satellite data he confirmed that all the systems were operating perfectly well and that the solar panel has been successfully deployed The health of satellite is perfectly alright he saidThis is a great achievement for our countrys space programme because this is the first EOS that will be placed on the geo platform for the national activitiesIn the days to come the orbit raising maneuvering will be done and the satellite will be elevated to required orbit and will be placed in the geo platform he said adding the success is the culmination of team work of ISRO and its industrial partnersMission Director Thomas Kurien said the mission carried uniquely configured EOS capable of near real time imaging It is the heaviest satellite ever launched by GSLV into a GTO or subGTO orbit he addedProject Director Satellite Imteyaz Ahamad described the EOS05 as a unique one of its kind satellite with multiband operating capabilities It is a complex satellite in terms of configuration content and capabilityEarlier at the end of a smooth 27hour countdown which commenced at 2330 hours on Wednesday the rocket began its ascent on dot at 255 AM from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre The odd hour and rain could not deter the enthusiasm of members of public as many armed with umbrellas turned up in good numbers to cheer the launchThe 3stage 517 meter Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle GSLV with its third stage being cryogenic has a lift off mass of 4205 tonne and the heavy satellite is ensconced on the rocket nose cone The GSLVF17EOS05 mission is said to be a replacement for the unsuccessful GSLVF10EOS03 mission of 2021An onboard computer had aborted that mission at 307 seconds into the flight then A probe into the postflight data had indicated that an anomaly in the Cryogenic Upper Stage led to the mission failure according to ISRO The predawn launch on Friday follows a gap of nearly eight months and brings ISRO its first success of the yearOn January 12 ISROs PSLVC62 rocket carrying 16 satellites failed to place them in the intended orbit after encountering an anomaly in the critical third stage of the launch Days ago ISRO chairman V Narayanan visited the Tirumala Tirupati Lord Venkateshwara Swamy temple and prayed for the missions successThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever