After Covid-19 slowdown, ISRO launches PSLV placing 10 satellites in orbit

After Covid-19 lockdown slowed down the space research in India for almost a year, Satish Dhawan Space Centre has resumed full form as they launched ISRO’s PSLV-C49 carrying EOS-01 into the orbit. This is the launch vehicle’s 51st flight, which also carried nine other customer satellites from the launch pad in Sriharikota. There had been a delay of 10 minutes due to bad weather conditions during the countdown.

After 15 minutes and 20 seconds, EOS-01 was successfully injected into its orbit. Subsequently, nine commercial satellites were injected into their intended orbits. After separation, the two solar arrays of EOS-01 were deployed automatically and the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the space organisation for overcoming constraints.

EOS-01 is an earth observation satellite, intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. The nine customer satellites from Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (4) and USA (4) were launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).