The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has again postponed the launch of three Earth observation satellites that were planned for the third and fourth quarters of the year, including the first development flight of a purely commercial small satellite launch vehicle. is included. Is.
According to the recently released monthly report of the Department of Space, three launches are now scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.
Last month, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State, Department of Space, had said that while the first crewless flight under the Gaganyaan mission could happen as early as January 2022, the second crewed mission was also planned later in the same year. Was. The third crewed flight will take place in 2023, he said.
This means, ISRO will have to do at least four missions in the first three months of 2022. There is usually a gap of a few months between two launches – the shortest period between two launches is 15 days, with two launches in the last four. years. A separate launch pad is being used.
far behind china
ISRO made only two launches this year: the PSLV-C1 mission that carried Brazil’s Earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 in February, and the GSLV-F10 mission with the Earth observation satellite EOS-03, which failed. Meanwhile, China launched at least 47 in 2021, setting a global record.
“The ISRO chairman had earlier said that the mission was postponed due to a cyclonic storm, which means that all the systems are already in place. If so, ISRO has the capability to complete four missions in a span of three months,” said Ajay Lele, senior fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis.
“let’s take Chandrayaan-2 mission, for example,” he said. “The launch had to be postponed at the last minute due to a leak issue. The launch vehicle was de-fuelled, repaired, and the launch was carried out again within 10 days, indicating that the agency has the capability to launch. ,
“The challenge is to prepare the satellites and other systems.”
Lele also said, “As far as the Gaganyaan mission is concerned, there is no clarity on the mission plan; ISRO needs two relay satellites in space to cover the dark spots in communication with the space module.” , we don’t know whether this will be done before the first unmanned mission. If they are testing components for human survival during the first mission, they will not need it. However, putting all the systems together and It’s always better to test everything together.”
Apart from the SSLV mission, the other two satellites will be launched from India’s flagship Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. One of the two PSLV missions was initially scheduled for the second quarter of the year, but was postponed after the second wave of the pandemic, which prompted the space agency to delay all big-ticket missions for the year. inspired. Including the first driverless flight. Gaganyaan mission under Aditya-L1 and India’s first solar mission.