ISRO All Set For Its First Launch Of This Year Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

ISRO has also said that the gathering of media personnel is not planned this time in view of the strict COVID-19 pandemic norms in place at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota

(File Photo/Getty)

New Delhi: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch the first satellite of this year amidst the pandemic, from Satish Dhawan Space centre in Sriharikota. On November 7, PSLV C49 rocket will carry EOS01 as primary satellite along with 9 other commercial satellites. Based on the weather conditions ISRO is also keeping a backup date. However for now it is official that ISRO will launch its first mission PSLVC49 at 1502 Hrs IST on November 7. EOS-01 is an remote sensing satellite for earth observation intended for military applications apart from agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. Whereas the customer satellites are being launched under commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space. ISRO has also said that the gathering of media personnel is not planned this time in view of the strict COVID-19 pandemic norms in place at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. Also launch viewing gallery will be closed during this launch. However the live telecast of the launch will be available on ISRO website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter channels. This will be ISRO's first satellite launch amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has slowed down all space activities since March. The agency is also gearing up for the much-awaited first demonstration test of its new rocket Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) or mini-PSLV by December. The last mission launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in India was the RISAT-2BR1 onboard the PSLV C48. After that, in January 2020, the GSAT-30 communication satellite was launched onboard Ariane-5 VA-251. The organisation was also supposed to launch GISAT-1 onboard GSLV-F10 on 5 March 2020, which was postponed due to technical issues.