Isro successfully launches SSLV rocket in second attempt

A second attempt to launch the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) was officially announced to be successful by Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). The smallest satellite launch vehicle under operation by India’s central space agency right now, SSLV was launched from the first launchpad of Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 9:18AM today. The rocket flew to a circular orbit, carrying a 156kg primary payload in the form of Isro’s Earth Observation Satellite (Eos)-07 and successfully putting it in orbit.

SSLV also succeeded in marking the second demo mission as the first successful commercial mission for the small satellite launcher as well, carrying the satellite Janus-1 built by US-headquartered satellite software maker Antaris to orbit. The rocket also carried AzaadiSAT-2, the second version of the student-made citizen satellite backed by Space Kidz India, and built by 750 girl students from the country.

An official confirmation to the mission’s success was announced by Isro at 9:34AM, on its official Twitter handle.

The milestone comes after the first demonstrator mission for SSLV ended in partial failure, in August last year. While the rocket took off successfully from SDSC as intended, it failed to complete its mission of injecting the satellites in orbit due to a technical glitch.

Any rocket, to be sure, typically conducts multiple ‘demonstrator’ missions in order to ensure that it is viable for commercial usage. The latter is among the top goals for India’s space ambitions, which would see both private startups, as well as the public-sector unit, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) on behalf of Isro, vie for commercial satellite launch contracts for clients around the world.

So far, US-based SpaceX remains the most popular mainstream satellite launcher globally, having achieved a frequency of multiple rocket launches every month, and even every week. This year itself, SpaceX has concluded 10 successful launches within the first six weeks.

While India is still some time away from building the scale of launches to the tune of SpaceX, SSLV marks a key moment by becoming India’s first functional small satellite launcher. The latter is looked at as a key commercial entity for India in space, since it takes lesser financial investment and time to build, and can be prepared with “short turnaround time”, according to Isro, to accommodate “on-demand” satellite launch missions.