The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04) onboard the PSLV C-52 rocket on 14th February 2022 from Sriharikota. The launch also carried two other rideshare satellites into orbit. The launch was conducted at 5.59 am from First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre of Sriharikota to deploy EOS-04 in the Sun-Synchronous Orbit nearly 529 kilometers above the planet.
The four-stage rocket lifted off with a student satellite INSPIRESat and a spacecraft dubbed INSAT-2DT that is a precursor of a joint India-Bhutan mission in the future. The all three satellites were successfully deployed.
This is the first space mission after S Somnath took over as chairman. Somnath took over from K Sivan on January 14, 2022.
How the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04) will work?
The Earth Observation Satellite-04 is also called Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT). It has been designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions. This satellite will provide images for applications such as agriculture, forestry and plantations, flood mapping, soil moisture and hydrology.
The spacecraft will collect observation data in C-Band completing the observations done by Resourcesat, Cartosat, and RISAT-2B series. The EOS-04 has an operating life of a decade.
INSPIRESat-1
The 8.1-kilogram student satellite dubbed INSPIRESat-1 was developed by the Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology in association with the Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at the University of Colorado.
INSPIRESat-1 will aim at improving our understanding of the ionosphere dynamics and the sun’s coronal heating process. Its operational lifetime of INSPIRESat-1 is set for a year.
India currently has 53 operational satellites. There 21 are earth observation ones and another 21 are communication-based. Eight satellites are for navigation and three are science satellites.