ISRO to launch the smallest rocket on August 7

August 5, 2022 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its smallest commercial rocket on August 7.

This Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) has been designed by 750 girl students from various government schools in the country.

The SSLV will carry the Indian Tricolour into space. It was developed as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

For this, 750 girl students from 75 rural government schools were selected to build payloads. The payloads comprise a UHF-VHF transponder that works in ham radio frequency. It allows voice and data transmission.

The SSLV will carry a satellite, AzaadiSAT, which comprises 75 payloads built by girl students from across the country. It is an eight kg CubeSat.

The payloads designed by the girls will have temperature sensors, radiation counters gyroscope, and an accelerometer.

Besides, it will place the 145 kg Earth Observation-2 satellite in orbit. The 34-metre Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) weighs approximately 120 tonnes. The vehicle diameter is two meters. It can put payloads up to 500 kg into space.

It is one of the best low-cost SSLVs of ISRO. It offers cheap rides to space. It can launch mini and micro satellites ranging from 10kg to 500 kg mass in the 500 km planar orbit. The satellite will carry Femto experiments.

ISRO officials say that it is a unique space mission that encourages women in STEM. It is apt to this year’s UN theme of Women in Space.

The satellite has selfie cameras not just to take pictures of its own solar panels, but long-range communication transponders as well. The mission’s life is expected to be six months.

The SSLV will be launched on Sunday at 9.18 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The flight duration is around 13.2 minutes.

Space Kidz India developed the ground station system to receive the data from the satellite.

Image from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)