Russia (bbabo.net), - The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has completed its first artificial satellite launch mission in 2022. Yesterday, the PSLV-C52 rocket successfully launched the EOS-04 Earth observation satellite and two small satellites into its intended orbit. ISRO called the event a "wonderful achievement".

At 5.59 am, the "workhorse" of the Indian space agency, the PSLV launch vehicle, left for the still dark sky. After a 19-minute flight, the spacecraft launched the satellites into their intended orbit, which caused a flurry of exclamations and applause from scientists who closely followed the progress of the first mission of the year. ISRO announced in a tweet that at 6:17 am EOS-04 was launched into its planned sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 529 kilometers. Then two small satellites INSPIREsat-1 and INS-2TD also reached their orbits.

- Mission PSLV-C52/EOS-04 was successfully completed. The main EOS-04 satellite has been placed into a very precise orbit, as have the other two satellites, ISRO Chairman Sridhara Somanath confirmed after the successful launch.

By the way, this is not only the first space mission of the year, but also the first launch under the chairmanship of S. Somanath, who took over as head of the Indian Space Research Organization in January 2022.

The head of ISRO thanked everyone who made this mission possible and said: "This spacecraft will be one of our biggest assets for the benefit of the country."

Mission Director S.R. Biju said, "What we have achieved today is really remarkable."

EOS-04, weighing 1,710 kilograms, is a radar imaging satellite. Its service life is ten years. It is designed to provide high quality images in all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, hydrology and flood mapping.

INSPIREsat-1 is developed by the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in collaboration with the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics of the University of Colorado (Boulder), while INS-2TD is a demonstration satellite from ISRO. This is the prototype of a joint satellite of India and Bhutan (INS-2B).

INSPIREsat-1 weighs 8.1 kilograms and has a service life of one year. It carries two blocks of scientific equipment. The purpose of the research is to improve understanding of the dynamics of the ionosphere and the processes of heating of the solar corona.

INS-2TD weighing 17.5 kilograms will last six months. As a payload, it carries a thermal imaging camera and allows you to estimate the temperature of the land surface, the surface of the water in wetlands or lakes, determine the boundaries of vegetation (crops and forests) and thermal inertia (day and night).

Overall, yesterday's flight was the 54th PSLV launcher mission and the 23rd using the PSLV-XL modification with six PSOM-XLs outboard engines.

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