• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54) placed EOS-06 (Earth Observation Satellite-06) and eight nano-satellites into two different Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbits (SSPOs). 

• This was PSLV’s 56th flight. It is also the 24th flight of the PSLV-XL version.

• The 44.4 metre tall PSLV soared majestically into a bright forenoon sky from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. 

• After a flight of about 17 minutes, the rocket successfully placed the primary payload Earth Observation Satellite (Oceansat) at an altitude of about 742 km while the passenger satellites were placed sequentially after lowering the altitude of the rocket to about 528 km in the SSPOs. 

Earth Observation Satellite-6

The Earth Observation Satellite-6 is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series. This is to provide continuity services of Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas. 

Mission objectives of EOS-6:

• To ensure the data continuity of ocean colour and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications.

• To improve the applications, some additional datasets such as sea surface temperature and more number of bands in optical region and in infrared region for atmospheric corrections are accommodated.

• To develop / improve related algorithms and data products to serve in well established application areas and to enhance the mission utility.

INS-2B satellite

ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B) spacecraft is configured with INS-2 Bus. INS-2B has two payloads namely NanoMx and APRS-Digipeater. NanoMx is a multispectral optical imaging payload developed by Space Applications Centre (SAC). APRS-Digipeater payload is jointly developed by the Department of Information Technology and Telecom, Bhutan and U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru.

Anand

The Anand Nano satellite demonstrates the capabilities and commercial applications of miniaturised earth-observation camera for earth observation using a microsatellite in Low Earth Orbit. This is a three-axis stabilised satellite consisting of a satbus, accommodating all sub-systems like telemetry, tele-command, Electrical Power system, Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS), on-board computers etc, and a payload unit.

Astrocast

Astrocast, a 3U spacecraft, is a technology demonstrator satellite for the Internet of Things (IoT) as the payload. These spacecraft are housed within an ISISpace QuadPack dispenser. The dispenser protects the satellite from contamination.

Thybolt

The Thybolt is a 0.5U spacecraft bus that includes a communication payload to enable rapid technology demonstration and constellation development for multiple users. It also demonstrates Store-and-Forward functionality for authorised users in the amateur frequency band. The satellites shall be deployed by using Dhruva Space Orbital Deployer to perform the specific mission operations for a minimum lifetime of one year.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store