NEW DELHI:
India’s space agency on Sunday said that the inaugural flight of a small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) failed to place two satellites into the targeted orbit.
According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the SSLV lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast on Saturday at 9:18am local time.
A statement by the agency on Sunday afternoon said: “Satellites are no longer usable. The issue is reasonably identified.”
It said a committee would analyse and recommend further action.
(1/2) SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission update: SSLV-D1 placed the satellites into 356 km x 76 km elliptical orbit instead of 356 km circular orbit. Satellites are no longer usable. Issue is reasonably identified. Failure of a logic to identify a sensor failure and go for a salvage action
— ISRO (@isro) August 7, 2022
Earlier, the agency had said that the maiden flight of SSLV is completed.
“All stages performed as expected. Data loss is observed during the terminal stage. It is being analysed,” the agency had said after the launch.
On Saturday, a day before the launch, the agency had said that SSLV-D1 mission would launch EOS-02, a 135 kg satellite, into low earth and the mission also carries AzaadiSAT satellite.
SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission: the launch is scheduled at 9:18 am (IST). Watch LIVE from 08:30 am here: https://t.co/V1Bk6GZoCF pic.twitter.com/ZTYo8NFXac
— ISRO (@isro) August 7, 2022
“EOS-02 is an earth observation satellite designed and realised by ISRO. This microsat series satellite offers advanced optical remote sensing operating in an infra-red band with high spatial resolution," the statement said.
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