India today successfully put into orbit an earth observation satellite and completed the launch of its third and final developmental rocket, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-D3.
The rocket lifted off majestically from the first launch pad at Indian Space Research Organizations’ Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 135km east of Chennai, at 9:17am local time.
The satellite has been injected into an orbit, ISRO chief S Somnath told the media.
The earth observation satellite is aimed at monitoring disasters and environmental events and detecting volcanic activities.
“The third developmental flight of SSLV is successful. The SSLV-D3 placed EOS-08 (satellite) precisely into orbit. This marks the successful completion of ISRO/DOS’s SSLV Development Project,” ISRO said in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) handle.
After today’s launch, the rocket, which carried the earth observation satellite, is now ready for commercial use with technology transfer by state-owned NewSpace India Limited to the private sector, ISRO said.
The objectives of the satellite mission include designing and developing a microsatellite and creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus, the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said.
