ISRO's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle or SSLV-D2 carrying EOS-07 satellite and two co-passenger payloads lifted off from the spaceport in Sriharikota on Friday, February 10. In its second developmental flight, LV D2 carried EOS-07, an earth observation satellite as its main payload and two others — Janus-1 built by US-based Antaris and Chennai-headquartered Space Kidz India's AzaadiSAT-2. This was ISRO's first mission this year. At the end of a six-and-a-half-hour countdown, the 34-metre tall rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, even as ISRO has pinned hopes on it to lead the space agency to success in tapping the small satellite launch vehicle market.
The first flight of LV on August 7, 2022, was a partial failure due to an orbit anomaly and deviation in the flight path of the rocket. LV caters to the launch of up to 500 kg satellites to low earth orbits on a 'launch-on-demand' basis. It provides low-cost access to space, offers low turn-around time and flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, and demands minimal launch infrastructure.
EOS-07 is a 156.3 kg satellite which has been designed, developed and realised by ISRO. New experiments include mm-Wave Humidity Sounder and Spectrum Monitoring Payload. While, Janus-1 is a 10.2 kg satellite, the 8.7 kg AzaadiSAT-2 is a combined effort of about 750 girl students across India guided by Space Kidz India, Chennai. The mission objective is to inject these satellites into a 450-km circular orbit.