The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the 51st mission of PSLV today. The carrier vehicle PSLV C49 will deliver 10 satellites in all with Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-01) as the primary one. The Eos-01, an earth observation satellite, was intended to provide agriculture, forestry, and disaster management support.
The other nine were customer satellites which were launched under a commercial agreement with NewIndia Space Limited (NSIL) including four from the United States that are meant for “multi-mission remote sensing”
The satellites were launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota. The rocket lifted off at 3.12 pm, instead of the scheduled time of 3.02 pm. the launch was delayed by 10 mins due to lightning that could damage electronics onboard the rocket.
This is the first mission by ISRO in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
Almost 15 minutes after liftoff, the launch vehicle successfully injected its primary satellite, EOS-01 into its orbit, followed by the nine customer satellites.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also congratulated the ISRO team for the success of the mission.
“I congratulate ISRO and India’s space industry for the successful launch of PSLV-C49/EOS-01 Mission today. In the time of COVID-19, our scientists overcame many constraints to meet the deadline,” the Prime Minister said.
With today’s launch, it marks the 77th mission for Sriharikota spaceport. Today’s launch also means the agency has sent 328 foreign satellites (from 33 nations) into space.
