In its second development flight on February 10, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D2) was launched successfully from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Key points
- With this successful launch India has got a new launch vehicle which was aimed to commercialise the small satellite launches through Industry on demand basis.
- It successfully launched three satellites into their intended orbits. In its second developmental flight, the SSLV-D2 vehicle placed EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 satellites into their intended 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of 37 degrees.
- SSLV is the new small satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO to cater the launch of small satellites up to 500 kg to Low Earth Orbits on ‘launch-on-demand’ basis.
- It is configured with three solid stages 87 t, 7.7 t and 4.5 t respectively. SSLV is a 34 m tall, 2 m diameter vehicle having a lift-off mass of 120 t.
- SSLV is capable of launching Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to a 500 km orbit.
- It provides low-cost access to Space, offers low turn-around time, facilitates flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites and demands minimal launch infrastructure.
- A new vehicle is declared operational by the space agency after it completes two successful development flights.
- The last vehicle to be declared operational was the GSLV Mk III, now called LVM 3, when it carried Chandrayaan-2 in 2019.
- Janus-1 is a technology demonstrator satellite built by United States-based Antaris and its Indian partners XDLinks and Ananth Technologies.
- AzaadiSat2 payloads have been built by 750 girl students from across India.
