EOS-04: ISRO’s PSLV-C52 Lifts off With Radar Imaging Satellite and 2 Passenger Satellites

For Indians, valentine’s day began with an early morning launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This marked the first launch of 2022 for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Transportation of PSLV Stages (Credits: ISRO)

Left: PSLV Booster Assembly at SDSC Right: PSLV C52 Lifting off with 3 satellites onboard (Credits: ISRO)

PSLV lifted off for its 54th flight with 6 strap-on boosters at 5:59 AM IST after a 25-hour countdown. The earth observation satellite was injected into its intended sun-synchronous polar orbit with an altitude of 529 km at 6:17 hours IST on February 14, 2022.

ES-04 Flight Sequence and Payload (Credit: ISRO)

Mission Payload

The launch vehicle carried the following three satellites as its payload:

1. Earth Observation Satellite-04 (EOS-04): A radar imaging satellite that will replace the RISAT-1, launched in 2012 and has been non-functional for the last few years. The satellite uses synthetic aperture radars to create high-resolution photographs for applications including agriculture, forestry, & plantations, as well as soil moisture & hydrology, and flood mapping. Radar imaging offers a significant benefit over optical imaging in that it is unaffected by weather, cloud or fog, or a lack of sunlight. It is also suitable for surveillance because it can produce high-quality images in all conditions and at all hours.

EOS-04 (Credit: ISRO)

2. ISRO NanoSatellite 2TD (INS-2TD): A nanosatellite developed by ISRO as a technology demonstrator for the India-Bhutan joint satellite (INS-2B), that is scheduled to be launched in March 2022. The development of INS-2B is an outcome of the space agreement signed by two countries in 2020.

The satellite’s payload includes a thermal imaging camera, which aids in the assessment of land surface temperature, water surface temperature of wetlands/lakes, vegetation demarcation (crops and forest), and thermal inertia (day/night).

INS-2TD (Credit: ISRO)

3. INSPIREsat-1: A student satellite developed by the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) along with the students from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and National Central University, Taiwan. It is developed in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder, where it was assembled and tested. This satellite will investigate the upper atmosphere’s dynamics and will be equipped with an X-ray spectrometer for investigating solar flares.

INSPIREsat-1 (Credit: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), University of Colorado Boulder)

This successful launch is just the beginning of ISRO’s busy year in space. The space agency is gearing up for Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) missions, Chandrayaan 3, Aditya L1, and the Ganganyaan uncrewed mission for the upcoming quarters of 2022.