Sriharikota: India has achieved a major milestone in space technology with the successful launch of EOS-05, the country’s first dedicated Earth-imaging satellite designed to operate from geosynchronous orbit.
The 2,367-kg satellite lifted off aboard GSLV-F17 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 2:55 a.m. on September 4, marking the 19th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. The rocket precisely placed EOS-05 into its intended Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, from where the satellite will be manoeuvred into its operational orbit.
The mission gives India a powerful new capability: high-frequency imaging of large areas, allowing repeated observation of the Indian subcontinent. The data is expected to strengthen agriculture and crop monitoring, disaster management, flood and forest-fire tracking, weather observation, environmental assessment and natural-resource management.
The achievement also carries added significance for ISRO after the unsuccessful 2021 attempt involving the earlier EOS-03 mission. This time, GSLV-F17 delivered the heaviest Earth-observation satellite yet carried by the vehicle, with ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan reporting the spacecraft to be in “perfect health.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the launch as an “outstanding achievement” and a proud moment for the nation, praising ISRO’s innovation and growing capabilities.
For India, EOS-05 is more than another satellite launch. It is a major step towards watching a rapidly changing Earth from space, more frequently and with greater precision. Humanity has spent centuries looking up at the sky. India is increasingly using it to understand what is happening down here.
JANPATH NEWS NETWORK (JNN)
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