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ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) lifted off from the spaceport at Sriharikota at 9:18 am. But almost immediately something went wrong. Minutes after launch, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said the SSLV D1 mission had suffered “data loss” in its final phase. And not long after, ISRO announced that the two satellites deployed by the launch vehicle would be unusable. Here’s what went wrong.
Data loss
“All stages went as expected. First stage completed and separated, second stage completed and separated, third stage also completed and separated, and in the terminal phase of the mission data is lost. We are analyzing the data and will soon get back to the status of the satellites and also the performance of the vehicle,” said Somanath of the Mission Control Centre, minutes after the launch, according to PTI.
“SSLV-D1/EOS-02 mission update: SSLV-D1 placed the satellites in an elliptical orbit measuring 356 km x 76 km instead of a circular orbit of 356 km. Satellites are no longer usable. The problem is adequately identified. A failure of logic to identify a sensor failure and go into rescue action,” the space agency said in a tweet. The mechanism put in place to identify the sensor failure did not work, and therefore the launch vehicle was unable to initiate a rescue action that would have caused the deviations.
What was the rocket carrying?
The rocket carried EOS-02, which is an Earth observation satellite. It also carried AzaadiSAT, a student satellite. It continued to successfully complete all phases of the launch until the final phase where ISRO scientists observed “data loss”. Then the SSLV put the satellites into an elliptical orbit instead of a circular orbit, rendering them “unusable”.
(1/2) SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission update: SSLV-D1 placed the satellites into 356 km x 76 km elliptical orbit instead of 356 km circular orbit. Satellites are no longer usable. Issue is reasonably identified. Failure of a logic to identify a sensor failure and go for a salvage action
— ISRO (@isro) August 7, 2022
Due to this malfunction, the launch vehicle launched the satellites into an elliptical orbit of 365 km by 76 km instead of the intended circular orbit of 365 km, meaning that the science objectives of the mission could not be completed.
Now the commission will analyze the launch and propose recommendations for improvement. After implementing these recommendations, ISRO will return for another attempt with the SSLV-D2 mission.
