The Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday launched it’s new offering, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), on a second demonstration mission to Low Earth Orbit.
It has been developed to shoulder the burden of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and cater to the small satellite launch market.
SSLV, the sixth launch vehicle designed and developed by Isro, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota for a 15-minute flight to Low Earth Orbit with three payloads weighing over 350 kilograms. The primary payload on the mission was the Earth Observation Satellite-07 (EOS-7). The launch vehicle also carried rideshare payload Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2.
AzaadiSAT aims to measure various health data like temperature and reset count from 75 student experiments installed inside the satellite. The satellite will play NCC Song as a tribute to the National Cadet Corps marking its 75th year of establishment.
The three stages of SSLV performed nominally as expected by Isro. However, all eyes were on the liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module, which was used as a terminal stage. Following the three stages separating from the rocket, the VTM ignited to provide the desired 450-kilometer circular orbit to deploy the satellite. The three satellites were then deployed in the desired orbit following VTM’s orbital corrections.
This was the second launch of Isro’s shiny new launch vehicle after the maiden demonstration mission ended up in failure. The SSLV D1 mission launched in August last year failed to deploy the satellites in orbit, making them unusable.
“We have a new launch vehicle. SSLV, in its second attempt, has placed the satellites in orbit very accurately. Congratulations to all three satellite teams. SSLV had its maiden flight and we had a narrow miss due to a shortfall in velocity. We have analysed the problem, identified the corrective action, and qualified the system at a very fast pace,” Isro chief S Somnath said after the launch.
Isro has said that the key features of SSLV are low cost, with faster turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, and minimal launch infrastructure requirements.
The successful mission marks India’s long-awaited arrival to cater to the multi-million dollar small satellite launch market. The SSLV can be used by customers from across the world to launch small satellites up to 500 kilometers above Earth.
The SSLV has been designed to carry objects ranging from 10 kilograms to 500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer planar orbit. The new launch vehicle can be prepared and shifted to the launch pad in just over 72 hours, as against the two months required to prep the PSLV.