India's space agency ISRO launches EOS-08 satellite with SSLV-D3

India's space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Friday (Aug 16) launched the Earth Observation Satellite-8 (EOS-8) using its recently built small satellite launch vehicle SSLV-D3. The satellite was launched from theSatish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Harikota at 9.17 am IST.

This is the third and final developmental flight of the SSLV-D3/EOS-08 mission.

The SSLV rocket, which measures about 34 metres in height, was planned to be launched on India's Independence Day on August 15 (Thursday)at 9.17 am and was later rescheduled to Friday from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The mission's objectives

Earlier, ISRO said that theprimary objectives of the missioninclude designing and developing a microsatellite, creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus, and incorporating new technologies required for future operational satellites.

With this mission, ISROcompletes the developmental flight of the smallest rocket which can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kilogramsand can place them into Low Earth Orbit (of up to 500 kilometresabove Earth).

A report by the news agency PTI on Thursday said that the mission would give a boost to NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO to take up commercial launches using such Small Satellite Launch Vehicles with the industry.

Built on the Microsat/IMS-1 bus, the Earth Observation Satellite carries three payloads: Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R), and SiC UV Dosimeterpayload.

The spacecraft has a mission life of one year.

The role of the three payloads

TheEOIR is designed to capture images in the Mid-Wave IR (MIR) and Long-Wave IR (LWIR) bands, both during the day and night, for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation, and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring.

TheGNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture assessment, cryosphere studies over the Himalayan region, flood detection, and inland waterbody detection.

The third payload- SiC UVmonitors UV irradiance at the viewport of the Crew Module in the Gaganyaan Mission and serves as a high-dose alarm sensor for gamma radiation.

(With inputs from agencies)