ISRO’s First Flight of SSLV Rocket Dashes Hopes; A Look at Space Body’s Some of the Failed Missions

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

In its maiden SSLV mission, the launch vehicle carried The Earth Observation Satellite EOS-02 and the co-passenger student satellite AzaadiSAT
In yet another setback for India’s space agency on its launch missions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday said the satellites onboard its maiden Small Satellite Launch Vehicle “are no longer usable” after the SSLV-D1 placed them in an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one in Earth’s low orbits.

Other Failed Mission of ISRO

The first major satellite failure for the ISRO came on August 10, 1979, when the country’s first experimental flight of SLV-3 carrying Rohini Technology Payload could not place the satellite into its intended orbit.
SROSS-1 , a 150 kg satellite carrying scientific instruments, was launched onboard the first ASLV (Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle) developmental flight on March 24, 1987. However, it failed to reach Earth’s orbi
Dubbed as one of trusted ISRO’s workhorses, the PSLV did not get success in its first flight. However, after the successful launch next year, it emerged as a reliable and versatile launch vehicle for the space agency.
Launch vehicle GSLV-F02, which was the country’s first attempt at a heavy communication satellite, also failed.
The PSLV-C39, which was supposed to launch IRNSS-1H, failed in its 41st flight. Despite having normal lift-off, satellites were separated within the heat shield, resulting in the failure of the mission.
ISRO’s second mission to the moon Chandrayaan-2 orbiter was launched in 2019. However, this mission also failed when the lander crashed on the lunar surface instead of gently landing. Lander and rover both were destroyed.
The launch of an earth observations satellite onboard GSLV Mk 2 rocket GISAT-1 had failed barely 350 seconds after its launch from India’s spaceport. ISRO’s initial analysis identified “a technical anomaly in the cryogenic stage” as a reason behind the failure.

Small Satellite Launch Vehicle

The SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) aims to cater to the market for the launch of small satellites into Earth’s low orbits that has emerged in recent years to cater to the needs of developing countries, universities for small satellites, and private corporations.
It is the smallest vehicle weighing only 110-tonne. It will take only 72 hours to integrate, unlike the 70 days taken now for a launch vehicle.
It can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg to a low earth orbit while the tried and tested Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) can launch satellites weighing in the range of 1000 kg.
SSLV has a capability to launch up to 500 kg satellite mass into 500 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 300 kg to Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).
It is a 3 stage Launch Vehicle configured with three Solid Propulsion Stages and liquid propulsion based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) as a terminal stage.
It is perfectly suited for launching multiple microsatellites at a time and supports multiple orbital drop-offs.
The key features of SSLV are low cost, with low turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch on demand feasibility, minimal launch infrastructure requirements, etc.
One of the mandates of the newly-created ISRO commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL) is to mass-produce and manufacture the SSLV and the more powerful PSLV in partnership with the private sector in India through technology transfers.