Explained: The importance of the EOS-04 launch, ISRO’s first of 2022

What is the News?

Indian Space & Research Organization(ISRO) will be launching the EOS-04 Satellite on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV-C52).

What is EOS-04?

EOS-04 is the fourth in the series of earth observation satellites.

It is a Radar Imaging Satellite. It weighs about 1710 kg and will be placed in a sun-synchronous polar orbit.

The satellite is designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry and plantations, soil moisture & hydrology, and flood mapping.

The satellite will complement the data from Resourcesat, Cartosat and RISAT-2B series of satellites that are already in orbit.

What about earlier EOS Satellites?

EOS-01: It was launched in 2020. It is in orbit right now. 

EOS-02: It is yet to be launched. It is a microsatellite to be flown on a new launch vehicle called SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle).

EOS-03: It ended in a failure in August 2021.

What are the other satellites launched with EOS-04?

INSPIREsat-1: It is a student satellite developed by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in collaboration with the University of Colorado in the United States. This satellite will study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere and carries an X-ray spectrometer for studying solar flares.

INS-2TD: It is a technology demonstrator for the first India-Bhutan joint satellite that is scheduled to be launched in March 2022. The INS-2TD has a thermal imaging camera meant for earth observation purposes, like the assessment of land and water surface temperature and identification of forest and tree cover.

How many satellites does India have currently in space?

India currently has 53 operational satellites, of which 21 are earth observation ones and another 21 are communication-based. The other eight are navigation satellites while the remaining three are science satellites.

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: The importance of the EOS-04 launch, ISRO’s first of 2022” published in Indian Express on 14th Feb 2022.