ISRO's launches EOS-01, nine other satellites for first time since lockdown

Hyderabad : ISRO ( Indian Space Research Organisation) on Saturday launched its latest earth observation satellite (EOS-01) with nine other satellites from customer nations attached to PSLV-C49 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

Interestingly, this was the first launch by ISRO since nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus. An earlier launch - of the GSAT-30 telecommunication satellite - was completed in January, but that was from a base in French Guinea.

The launch took place at 3.12 PM after a 26-hour countdown. The launch was delayed by 10 minutes due to bad weather and debris in the flight path, ISRO sources told news agency PTI.

At 3.34 pm ISRO said the customer satellites had separated and been injected into their intended orbits. Six minutes earlier the space agency said India's EOS-01 satellite had separated from the fourth stage of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket and been injected into orbit.

Shortly after the launch Prime Minister Modi tweeted, offering ISRO his congratulations.

"I congratulate ISRO and India's space industry for the successful launch of PSLV-C49/EOS-01 Mission today. In the time of COVID-19, our scientists overcame many constraints to meet the deadline," the Prime Minister said.

According to ISRO, EOS-01 is a highly advanced earth observation satellite intended for use in supporting agriculture, forestry and disaster management planning.

The other nine satellites which were attached to the PSLV, under a commercial agreement with NewIndia Space Limited (NSIL), include four from the United States that are meant for "multi-mission remote sensing". Four of the remaining five are from Luxembourg (for maritime applications) and the other is from Lithuania (for technology demonstration).