ISRO to launch country’s latest all-weather earth observation satellite

India’s latest all-weather earth observation satellite EOS-01 will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) this afternoon, using the workhorse rocket PSLV-C49. Nine other customer satellites will also be carried into space by the rocket, in its 51st flight.

It will be ignited at 3:02 pm, from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh, close to Chennai. The 26-hour countdown for the launch mission began at 1.02 pm yesterday and is progressing smoothly.

This will be India’s first mission from her launch pad at Sriharikota this calendar year. The ISRO scientists say the sequence of preparations ahead of the launch, as part of the countdown, is progressing with precision. The earth observation satellite EOS-01 is equipped with the synthetic aperture radar that has an enviable resolution.

Coincidentally, the launch of its peer RISAT-2BR1, is the previous mission that took place from the national spaceport in December last year. The intended applications of the satellite include in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. Its operational life will be five years, providing crucial data, seamlessly.