This Day In History: 43 Years Ago, ISRO Conducted Maiden Flight Of India's First Experimental Satellite Launch Vehicle

ISRO's Maiden Flight Of India's First Experimental Satellite: SLV-3 E1, the first experimental flight of the satellite launch vehicle, was launched from SLV Launch Pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Independence Day 2022: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the maiden flight of its first experimental satellite launch vehicle, the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3), on August 10, 1979. 

SLV-3 E1, the first experimental flight of the satellite launch vehicle, was launched from SLV Launch Pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The launch vehicle was carrying the Rohini Technology Payload, which weighed 35 kilograms. However, the mission was a partial success because a faulty valve caused the launch vehicle to crash into the Bay of Bengal 317 seconds after launch. 

More About SLV

Despite the mission being a partial success, it was a great beginning for the Indian space agency. 

According to ISRO, SLV-3 was a four-stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes. Each stage was a solid propulsion stage. The launch vehicle had a height of 22 metres and was capable of placing 40 kilograms of payloads in low-Earth orbit.

Missions Conducted By SLV

On July 18, 1980, SLV-3 successfully placed the Rohini Satellite RS-1 in orbit. This made India a member of an exclusive club of spacefaring nations, which hitherto included the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Italy, Australia, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and the European Space Agency. 

The Rohini series of satellites carried launch vehicle monitoring instruments. The Rohini Satellite RS-1 was a 35 kilogram-satellite designed with a power handling capacity of 16 Watts. Launched aboard SLV-3, the RS-1 satellite carried digital sun sensors, a magnetometer, and temperature sensors. RS-1 became the first satellite of India to be launched by an SLV-3.

The 1980 mission marked the first successful satellite launch by SLV.

After this mission, the Rohini RS-D1 and Rohini RS-D2 satellites were launched into low-Earth orbit atop SLV-3, as part of demonstration flights of the satellite launch vehicle. 

The 1981 mission was a partial failure because the orbit in which the satellite was placed was too low, as a result of which it decayed after nine days. The 1983 mission was a success.

According to ISRO, the successful culmination of the SLV-3 project paved the way for the development of advanced launch vehicle projects such as the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).