After failure on maiden flight, India all set for new SSLV rocket launch on Feb 10

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the second developmental flight of its newest and smallest orbital-class rocket, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle(SSLV).

The launch is scheduled for 9.18 am (local time) Friday, from India's spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Based on the important lessons learnt from the setback faced by the maiden launch on August 7, 2022, several changes have been made to the rocket's sub-systems to ensure flawless flight.

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Generally, the first two or three flights of a new rocket are known as "developmental flights". These are opportunities for the rocket to showcase its real-world performance and worthiness as a dependable launcher.

While several aspects of a rocket's flight can be simulated and studied, the experience and scientific data gained from a launch are crucial to understanding the characteristics of the vehicle. Following two or three developmental flights, the rocket is declared operational and is used for routine missions.

SSLV is a simple and easy-to-build rocket when compared to ISRO's routine launchers such as the PSLV, GSLV and LVM3. The SSLV is a rocket that is powered almost entirely by solid fuel, whereas the PSLV is powered by solid and liquid fuels and the GSLV series of rockets are powered by solid, liquid and cryogenic fuels.

Being powered by solid fuel also means that the SSLV rocket stages can be assembled at short notice or even be stored with onboard fuel. It is said that it takes less than a week for a handful of engineers and technicians to assemble the SSLV, in contrast with hundreds of personnel and anywhere between 30-45 days for assembling India's larger rockets.

In terms of technical specifications, theSSLV is a three-stage launch vehicle configured with three solid propulsion stages and a liquid propulsion-based velocity trimming module (VTM) as a terminal stage.

SSLV measures 2m in diameter and 34m in length, with a lift-off weight of nearly 120 tonnes. It is capable of launching 500kg payloads in orbits 500km above the earth's surface. The key features of SSLV are low-cost with low turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch on-demand feasibility, minimal launch infrastructure requirements, etc.

During the maiden launch, a vibration disturbance caused during the vehicle's second stage separation affected the onboard sensors data and software built into the rocket had taken corrective actions to perform the satellite injection.

However, the satellites were not injected into the requisite orbit and also lacked the velocity to remain in a stable orbit. This meant that the payloads were lost and the mission was unsuccessful, though many of the vehicle's flight parameters were demonstrated well.

During Friday's mission, the SSLV would be injecting India's EOS-7, an Earth Observation Satellite and two passenger satellites Janus-1 from USA and student satellite AzaadiSAT-2 into a 450km circular orbit.

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