India's Ambitious 'Baby Rocket' Mission Faces Glitches at Maiden Launch

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has developed a small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) to launch satellites weighing up to 500kg into Low Earth Orbits on a launch-on-demand basis.

The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) newly developed small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) suffered some data losses at the terminal stage during its maiden flight Sunday morning. The space agency said it is analyzing the status of the satellites and the SSLV's performance.

The remote sensing 135kg satellite EOS-02 and an 8kg CubeSat were separated from the rocket at low Earth orbit.

"The SSLV's maiden flight is completed. All stages took place as expected. Data loss was observed during the terminal stage. It is being analyzed. Will be updated soon," ISRO said in a statement.

SSLV-D1 is a 34-meter tall tube which is 2 meters in diameter with a lift-off mass of 120 tons. Initially scheduled for 2018, the launch of the SSLV was postponed several times because of the pandemic and some technical issues involving the rocket's development.

ISRO's three-stage solid fuel SSLV rocket is developed to send mini, micro, and nanosatellites weighing between 10kg and 500kg into a 500km orbit.

SSLV is intended to provide low-cost access to space on an on-demand basis and, according to the country's space agency, does not require a mission control center to launch the satellite, but can be launched by personal computer anywhere.

"It offers low turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, minimal launch infrastructure requirements, etc," ISRO said in a statement.

A CubeSat named AzaadiSAT was also a co-passenger of the earth observation satellite EOS-02. CubeSat which weighs 8kg and was developed by 750 schoolgirls, carries 75 different payloads, weighing around 50 grams each and conducting femto-experiments.