ISRO Roars Back into Action: GSLV-F17 Successfully Delivers EOS-05 into Orbit
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- 22 hours ago
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On September 4, 2026, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a landmark milestone with the successful launch of the GSLV-F17 rocket, carrying the advanced Earth Observation Satellite EOS-05 (also known as GISAT-1A).
Lifting off precisely at 2:55 AM IST from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the 51.7-meter-tall GSLV vehicle seamlessly placed the 2,367 kg payload into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit roughly 19 minutes after launch. From there, the spacecraft will raise its own altitude to its final operational platform roughly 36,000 km above Earth.
Key Highlights of the Mission
ISRO's Triumphant Return: The mission marks ISRO’s first launch after a nearly eight-month operational pause following the PSLV-C62 mission failure in January 2026, fully restoring launch momentum and validating system safety protocols.
India’s Geostationary "Eye in the Sky": EOS-05 is India's first-ever imaging satellite designed to operate from a high-altitude geosynchronous orbit. Unlike typical Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that pass over regions periodically, EOS-05 rotates in sync with the Earth. This provides continuous, near-real-time monitoring of the Indian subcontinent and its borders.
Next-Generation Capabilities: Equipped with advanced optics operating across visible, infrared, multispectral, and hyperspectral bands, the spacecraft can capture images of selected regions every 5 minutes and map the entire national landmass every 30 minutes.
Core Applications: The satellite will deliver high-frequency data for critical national uses, including real-time disaster management (tracking cyclones, cloudbursts, and forest fires), agricultural monitoring, weather forecasting, and strategic border surveillance.
Overcoming Past Setbacks: The successful deployment replaces the lost GISAT-1 (EOS-03) satellite, which was impacted by a cryogenic stage anomaly during the GSLV-F10 launch in August 2021.
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