The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) failed in its mission to put the state-of-the-art Geo Imaging Satellite (Gisat-1) in orbit on August 12. Gisat-1 is officially known as EOS-03 (earth observation satellite 03).
The core stage burnout happened just as planned after the Satellite Launch Vehicle-F10 (GSLV-F10) got off at 5.43 am as scheduled, pushing the rocket forward in its intended path.
The second stage ignition happened as planned some 2 minutes into the payload fairing, and the launch was established after takeoff by the mission control after nearly four minutes.
After the second stage shut off, there were a few horrible moments. The cryogenic stage didn’t ignite, considering the mission a failure.
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Failure analysis committee
ISRO decided to form a failure analysis committee (FAC) which will analyse the reasons for their failures.
It was ISRO’s 3rd attempt at launching the satellite after two failed attempts. It was scheduled for March 5, 2020, but was abolished minutes before the 26-hour countdown started on March 4, 2020.
While Isro gained confidence again to launch it earlier this year (2021), the launch didn’t happen following a voltage issue that the scientists have described as a “minor power problem”.
Designed to bring forth real-time images of huge “areas of region of interest” at regular intervals, the satellite was going to be an advanced ‘eye in the sky’ and also held the ability to help the country’s armed forces to make plans for various operations.
Gisat-1 to increase India’s abilities
The satellite was expected to increase India’s abilities by giving near real-time observation of huge “areas of region of interest”, at frequent intervals under cloud-free conditions.
Isro chairman K Sivan made his statement before the launch on Wednesday, stating:
“Unlike satellites in LEO (low Earth orbit) this will provide a continuous view and will be really helpful in meteorological planning, agriculture, disaster warning among other things. This class of satellite is a first-of-its-kind in Earth observation, and we are proud.”
About Gisat-1
Weighing 2,268 kg, Gisat-1 will also supply spectral signatures for forestry, mineralogy, agriculture, cloud properties, snow, glaciers, disaster warning and oceanography.
The satellite was furnished with a six-band multispectral visible and near-InfraRed imaging sensor with 42m resolution, a near-InfraRed sensor with 318m resolution,158-band hyperspectral visible and 256-band hyper-spectral short wave-InfraRed sensor with 191m resolution, as per the statement given by ISRO.
