The PSLV-C52 rocket just successfully deployed the Indian Space Research Organisation’s EOS-04 earth observation satellite and two tiny satellites (INSPIREsat-1 and INS-2TD) into their designated orbit.
This was the 54th launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, and the 23rd of the XL-version, which contains six strap-on boosters. It was launched from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, the country’s only spaceport.
About Earth Observation Satellites:
- Satellites equipped with remote sensing technologies are known as Earth observation satellites. The gathering of data about the Earth’s physical, chemical, and biological systems is known as Earth observation.
- On sun-synchronous orbit, many earth observation satellites have been used.
- RESOURCESAT-2, 2A, CARTOSAT-1, 2, 2A, 2B, RISAT-1 and 2, OCEANSAT-2, Megha-Tropiques, SARAL and SCATSAT-1, INSAT-3DR, 3D, and other earth observation satellites launched by ISRO include RESOURCESAT-2, 2A, CARTOSAT-1, 2, 2A, 2B, RISAT-1 and 2, OCEANSAT-2, Megha-Tropiques.
- It includes spy satellites and other non-military satellites for environmental monitoring, meteorology, cartography, and other purposes.
- Earth-imaging satellites, which take satellite images similar to aerial photography, are the most frequent variety.
- Some EOS, such as those used in GNSS radio occultation, can perform remote sensing without producing pictures.
About EOS-04:
- EOS-04, is a 1,710 kg satellite with a ten-year mission life, is designed to deliver high-quality photos in all weather circumstances for applications like agriculture, forestry, and plantations, soil moisture and hydrology, and flood mapping.
- It will supplement data from the Resourcesat, Cartosat, and RISAT-2B satellite series, which are currently in orbit.
- EOS-01, the first of these newly named spacecraft, was launched in November 2020 and is now in orbit. EOS-02, a microsatellite that will be launched on a new launch vehicle named SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle), is yet to launch, while EOS-03 failed to launch in August 2021.
- It is a radar-imaging satellite that will be deployed in a 529 km sun synchronous polar orbit, which would have made it a part of the RISAT series sooner.
- It would, in reality, replace the RISAT-1, which was launched in 2012 but has been out of commission for some years.
- Synthetic aperture radars are used by RISATs to create high-resolution photographs of the land.
- Radar imaging offers a significant benefit over optical imaging in that it is unaffected by weather, cloud or fog, or a lack of sunlight.
- It is suitable for surveillance because it can produce high-quality images in all conditions and at all hours.
About INSPIREsat-1:
- INSPIREsat-1 is part of a constellation of satellites being developed by the Small-spacecraft Systems and Payload Centre (SSPACE) at IIST, University of Colorado (US), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and National Central University (NCU), Taiwan, as part of the International Space Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE).
- Two scientific payloads on INSPIREsat-1, which has a mass of 8.1 kg and a one-year mission life, are targeted at bettering our understanding of ionosphere (part of Earth’s upper atmosphere) dynamics and coronal heating processes.
About INS-2TD:
- The INS-2TD satellite is a technology demonstration for the first India-Bhutan joint spacecraft, which will launch in March 2022.
- BhutanSat, or INS-2B, will be launched on a PSLV rocket in March 2022, according to a space pact struck between the two countries last year.
- The INS-2TD’s thermal imaging cameras are used for earth observation tasks such as measuring land and water surface temperatures and identifying forest and tree cover.
Why are there so many distinct names for the same thing?
- ISRO switched to a new naming scheme for its earth observation satellites two years ago, which had previously been titled thematically, according to their intended use.
- The Cartosat satellites were designed to offer data for land topography and mapping, whilst the Oceansat satellites were designed to provide data for international observations.
- Some INSAT-series, Resourcesat-series, GISAT, Scatsat-series, and a few more earth observation satellites were given different names depending on the jobs they were given or the instruments they carried.
- All of these satellites will now be part of the new EOS series.
Other satellites of India:
- India currently operates 53 satellites, 21 of which are earth observation satellites and the remaining 21 are communication satellites.
- Eight of the spacecraft are navigational, while the other three are science satellites.