ISRO to launch Earth Observation Satellite on 14 February: All you need to know about it

The Indian Space Research Organisation {ISRO} will carry out its first launch of the year on 14 February with PSLV-C52 orbiting an earth observation satellite {EOS-04}.

The countdown of 25 hours and 30 minutes leading to the PSLV launch would commence at 04:29 hours on 13 February, said ISRO in a statement.

Here’s what we know of the mission so far.

-- The launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C52 is scheduled at 05:59 hours on 14 February from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

-- The launcher will deploy the 1,710-kilogram satellite into the sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 529 kilometres above the planet.

-- According to ISRO, EOS-04, also known as RISAT1, is a radar imaging satellite designed to provide high-quality images under all-weather conditions. Once in orbit, it will be used for applications such as agriculture, forestry and plantations, soil moisture and hydrology as well as flood mapping.

-- EOS-04 would be accompanied by two more small satellites including INSPIREsat-1. INSPIREsat-1 is a student satellite from Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology {IIST} in association with Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder.

-- Along with INSPIREsat-1, the PSLV-C52 mission will also carry a technology demonstrator satellite {INS-2TD} from ISRO, which is a precursor to India-Bhutan Joint Satellite {INS-2B}.

ISRO discards INSAT-4B in space

The announcement of 2022’s first mission came after ISRO announced that it had successfully disposed of one of its satellites after it completed its operational life in orbit. The INSAT-4B underwent Post Mission Disposal {PMD} at the end of its service, followed by decommissioning on 24 January.

In a statement, ISRO said, "INSAT-4B is the 21st Indian Geostationary Earth Orbit {GEO} satellite to undergo post-mission disposal, the required propellant for such re-orbiting was included in the initial fuel budget as a part of standard practice followed in ISRO's GEO mission planning."

COVID affects plans

An IndiaToday report said that the space agency will also look to make up for lost time owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several missions, like Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-3, and Aditya L1 missions had been pushed back owing to the pandemic and the successive lockdowns.

New ISRO chief S Somnath had recently said that the Department of Space has planned 19 missions to be launched in 2022. ISRO will liftoff eight launch vehicle missions, seven spacecraft missions, and four technology demonstrator missions.

With inputs from agencies

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