NEW DELHI: India’s space programme notched a much-needed success with a rocket launch on Friday (Sept 4), after two consecutive failures of another launcher that had long served as its workhorse rocket.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off at 2.55am local time from the country’s main spaceport at Sriharikota, an island in southern India, and reached the designated orbit 18 minutes later, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch broadcast on YouTube.
The rocket deployed the EOS-05, India’s first imaging satellite designed for operations from geosynchronous orbit, where satellites move in sync with Earth’s rotation and can monitor the same region continuously. The satellite weighs 2,367kg.
"GSLV has successfully and precisely injected the advanced Earth observation satellite in the intended and required orbit,” ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said after the launch.
The launch marked the GSLV’s second consecutive success since July last year, when it placed the jointly developed Nasa-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite into orbit.
The successful flight helps steady India’s launch cadence and provides a boost to ISRO, which had been rattled by recent setbacks. Its most successful rocket - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV - had seen back-to-back failures, casting doubts on its reliability.
Following Friday’s success, ISRO plans to execute seven launches by March 2027, according to local media. - Bloomberg
