The Indian Space & Research Organisation (Isro) successfully launched the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04) onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in the wee hours of Monday. The launch carried two other rideshare satellites into orbit as the Indian space agency set in motion work for 2022.
The launch was conducted from SAR in Sriharikota at 5:59 am 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.
Amid cheers in Mission Control, the launch director announced that all three satellites were successfully deployed. Following the launch, Isro chief S Somnath said, "The mission of PSLV-C52 has been successfully accomplished."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Isro and said, "Congratulations to our space scientists on the successful launch of PSLV-C52 mission. EOS-04 satellite will provide high-resolution images under all weather conditions for agriculture, forestry and plantations, soil moisture and hydrology as well as flood mapping."
The Earth Observation Satellite-04 is also called Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) that has been designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry, and plantations, flood mapping, soil moisture & hydrology. The spacecraft will collect observation data in C-Band completing the observations done by Resourcesat, Cartosat, and RISAT-2B series. The satellite has an operating life of a decade.