National News : The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is going to launch a satellite today. ISRO said that the countdown for the launch of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-03 started on Friday. The SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission follows the second successful launch of the second test flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D2-EOS-07) in February 2023.

Countdown has begun

Today's mission is the third mission for the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency in 2024 after the successful launch of PSLV-C58/XpoSat missions in January and GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS missions in February. The six-and-a-half-hour countdown ahead of the launch of the SSLV-D3-EOS08 mission has already begun at 02.47 am IST, ISRO said. 

Launching will happen at 9:19 am

The smallest SSLV rocket, with a height of about 34 metres, was planned to be launched on August 15 at 9.17 am and later rescheduled for August 16 at 9:19 am from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here. 

The work is to design and develop microsatellites

ISRO said that the primary objectives of the SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission are to design and develop a microsatellite, build payload equipment compatible with the microsatellite and inculcate new technologies required for future operational satellites. With today's mission, ISRO has completed the developmental flight of the smallest rocket that can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg. 

NewSpace India Limited will get a boost 

It can also put them in low Earth orbit (500 km above the Earth). This mission will also give a boost to ISRO's commercial arm NewSpace India Limited, to work with the industry to carry out commercial launches using such small satellite launch vehicles. 

Important role in disaster monitoring

The spacecraft has a mission life of one year. It weighs about 175.5 kg. It generates a power of about 420 watts. The satellite interfaces with the SSLV-D3/IBL-358 launch vehicle, ISRO said. The first payload EOIR is designed to capture images in the mid-wave IR (MIR) and long-wave IR (LWIR) bands during both day and night. It is used for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation and industrial and lightning disaster monitoring.

It will help in detecting floods

The second GNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture estimation, cryosphere studies in the Himalayan region, flood detection and inland water body detection.