ISRO Successfully Launches Earth Observation Satellite EOS-04 On PSLV-C52

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04) onboard the PSLV C-52 rocket today early morning from Sriharikota.

This is the first space mission under the chairmanship of S Somanath, who recently took over the reins from K Sivan, on January 14, 2022.

The launch was scheduled at 5.59 am from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The launch also carried two other rideshare satellites into orbit. The launch was conducted to deploy EOS-04 in the Sun-Synchronous Orbit nearly 529 kilometers above the planet.

The four-stage rocket lifted off with a student satellite INSPIRESat and a spacecraft dubbed INSAT-2DT that is a precursor of a joint India-Bhutan mission in the future. The launch director announced that all three satellites were successfully deployed. ISRO Chief S Somnath said, “The mission of PSLV-C52 has been successfully accomplished.”

ISRO live-streamed the PSLV-C52/EOS-04 launch mission today on the official YouTube page of ISRO called ‘ISRO Official’ from 5.30 am IST.

How EOS-04 will work?

The Earth Observation Satellite-04 is also called Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT).

The satellite has been designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions.

It will provide images for applications such as agriculture, forestry and plantations, flood mapping, soil moisture and hydrology.

The spacecraft will collect observation data in C-Band completing the observations done by Resourcesat, Cartosat, and RISAT-2B series.

The Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04) has an operating life of a decade.

India currently has 53 operational satellites, of which 21 are earth observation ones and another 21 are communication-based.

Eight are navigation satellites, while the remaining three are science satellites.