The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Saturday, 7 November, launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C49 (PSLV-C49/EOS-01) at 3:12 pm from Sriharikota an earth observation satellite planned for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management, and nine customer satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
The EOS01 successfully detached itself from the fourth stage of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C 49, along with all nine customer satellites and injected into orbit ISRO Chief K Sivan said the team raised to the occasion during the pandemic, worked as per the COVID guidelines, without compromising on quality.
“It’s really heartening to see all ISRO employees doing quality work at this time,” adding space activity cannot be done by working from home. “Each engineer has to be present at the lab. When talking about missions like these, each technician, employee has to work together,” he said. It is PSLV’s 51st mission.
The customer satellites were launched under commercial agreement with New Space India Limited, Department of Space. I.S.R.O. tweeted that The rocket carrying 10 satellites, including India’s radar imaging satellite and nine other foreign satellites, launched from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 3.12 p.m.
Countdown for the launch of #PSLVC49/#EOS01 mission commenced today at 1302 Hrs (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.
Launch is scheduled tomorrow at 1502 Hours IST . pic.twitter.com/JQ0nBXHChx
— ISRO (@isro) November 6, 2020
PM Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO on Twitter, saying, “In the time of COVID-19, our scientists overcame many constraints to meet the deadline.”
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.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 7, 2020
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan also congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists for the successful launch of the PSLV-C49 vehicle.
“Successful launch of PSLV-C49 by ISRO scientists after Covid lockdown is a demonstration of their dedication to the country’s space program,” said Harichandan.
According to ISRO, After PSLV-C49, the next one to fly will be PSLV-C50 with the GSAT-12R satellite. It will fly from the second launch pad, S Somanath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), had told IANS earlier. “We are targeting PSLV-C50 sometime in December. It needs about 30 days to get ready for another launch after one launch.”” – S Somanath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) The other Indian satellites that are ready for launch are GISAT, Microsat-2A and GSAT-12R. The launch of the GISAT-1 satellite was scheduled on 5 March but this year was postponed due to technical reasons a day before the launch.
