ISRO successfully launches EOS-08 satellite; SSLV development complete, says chairman Somanath

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) succesfully launched third developmental flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday, August 16.

After successfully satellite injection, the space agency chief S Somanath declared the development of SSLV complete.

‘Everything is perfect,’ confirms ISRO chief Somanath

ISRO chief S Somanath said the third developmental flight of the small-lift launch vehicle, SSLV-D3/EOS-08, has been successfully completed. He added that the rocket placed the spacecraft into the exact orbit as planned with no deviations in the injection conditions.

“The final orbit will be known after tracking but the current indication is that everything is perfect. The EOS-08 satellite as well as SR-08 satellite has also been injected after manoeuvres. Congratulations to the SSLV-D3 team, the project team,” Somanath said.

With the successful launch, the development of the SSLV, ISRO’s small-lift launch vehicle, is complete. This rocket can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg and place them in Low Earth Orbit (up to 500 km above Earth).

“With this third developmental flight of SSLV, we can declare the development process of SSLV is completed,” ISRO chief said.

Now Indian industries can use this rocket for future missions, with support from NewSpace India Limited, a government-owned company.

Science minister lauds ISRO

Union minister of state for science & technology Jitendra Singh praised the ISRO team for the successful launch of the SSLV-D3/EOS-08 mission. In a post on X, Singh said: “”Kudos team ISRO for the successful launch of SSLV-D3/EOS-08 Mission. With the personal intervention & patronage provided by PM Narendra Modi , Team ISRO has been able to carry one success after the other in a serial manner.”

What are ISRO’s upcoming missions?

With Friday’s successful launch, the ISRO has achieved a hat-trick of consecutive successful missions this year. The space agency previously launched the PSLV-C58/XpoSat mission in January and the GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS mission in February.

Upcoming ISRO missions include the NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR), a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory developed in collaboration with NASA. Another major mission is Gaganyaan, which aims to demonstrate human spaceflight by sending a crew of three to a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission and safely returning them to Earth. The launch dates of these missions are not announced yet.

But the most anticipated event this year is Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla’s historic flight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, where he will be the first Indian astronaut to make this journey, alongside two other astronauts.