India’s rocket failed to place two satellites in intended orbit

India’s debut rocket – Small Satellite Launch Vehicle or SSLV designed to carry a payload up to 500 kilograms, today deployed two small satellites but failed to place them in the correct orbit.

The 34 meters (112 feet) tall SSLV, a three-stage vehicle, lifted off on August 7, 2022 at 9:18 AM IST (8:48 AM PKT) carrying the EOS-02 (a 135-kilogram earth observation satellite built by ISRO itself) and the AzaadiSAT (an 8-kilogram CubeSat that further carried 75 different payloads built by Indian students each weighing around 50 grams)

“AzaadiSAT is a 8U Cubesat weighing around 8 kg. It carries 75 different payloads each weighing around 50 grams and conducting femto-experiments. Girl students from rural regions across the country were provided guidance to build these payloads. The payloads are integrated by the student team of Space Kidz India,” ISRO published.

ISRO broadcast the launch event live on YouTube showing the rocket lifting off. It performed well in its three lower stages by separating them apart one by one. However its fourth and the final stage had a problem – reported ISRO official. There was a loss of data from the rocket over five hours after the liftoff eventually failing the mission, ISRO announced.

S. Somanath, the chairman of the ISRO said in a video statement published later on the agency’s website that when the rocket reached altitude of around 350 kilometers both satellites were separated, however:

“We subsequently noticed an anomaly in the placement of the satellites in the orbit. The satellites were placed in an elliptical orbit in place of a circular orbit. The 356 km circular orbit was our intended orbit, but it placed the satellites in an elliptical orbit of 356 by 76 kilometers.

“The payloads include a UHF-VHF transponder working in ham radio frequency to enable voice and data transmission for amateur radio operators, a solid state PIN diode-based radiation counter to measure the ionizing radiation in its orbit, a long-range transponder and a selfie camera,” ISRO officials noted.