ISRO places its first ever Earth Observation Satellite in orbit

Chennai: In a historic success, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday launched its first ever imaging satellite in geo-orbit, strengthening country’s space-based monitoring system.

The advanced Earth observation satellite EOS-05 was placed in orbit by the GSLV-F17 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

The 51.7-metre GSLV-F17 carrying over 2,300 kg payload lifted off from the second launch pad at 2.55 a.m. following a 27.5-hour countdown.

The launch comes after consecutive failures of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV in 2025 and 2026, and it marks another important milestone for India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle programme. GSLV-F17 is the 19th flight of the GSLV and uses India’s indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage. In an earlier mission in August 2021, ISRO suffered a setback when GSLV-F10 carrying the EOS-03 Earth observation satellite was unsuccessful after the cryogenic upper stage could not complete its planned operation.

India can now through EOS-05 conduct sustained observation of large areas from space, providing an important technological resource for disaster response, development planning and national requirements.

The launch on Friday follows a gap of nearly eight months and brings ISRO its first success of the year.

ISRO’s PSLV-C62 rocket carrying 16 satellites could not place them in the intended orbit after encountering an “anomaly” in the critical third stage of the launch on January 12.

Hailing the launch of the satellite, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X “Yet another outstanding achievement by ISRO and a proud moment for our nation. The successful launch of GSLV-F17 carrying EOS-05, India’s first-ever imaging satellite from Geosynchronous orbit is a reflection of the excellence, innovation and growing capabilities that define India’s space sector.” Modi said in a post on X.

The prime minister said the growing partnership between ISRO and Indian industry is adding new strength and scale to the country’s space programme and expanding India’s capabilities across the entire space ecosystem.
The successful launch of GSLV-F17 carrying EOS-05, India’s first-ever imaging satellite from Geosynchronous orbit is a reflection of the excellence, innovation and growing capabilities that define India’s space sector.
The growing partnership between ISRO and Indian industry is adding new strength and scale to our space programme and expanding India’s capabilities across the entire space ecosystem.”

—-India News Stream