Isro to launch EOS-8 satellite with SSLV-D3 on August 16
Isro will launch Earth Observation Satellite-8 (EOS-8) using its recently built small satellite launch vehicle, SSLV-D3. Isro announced on X that the launch is slated for «August 16 in a launch window of one hour starting at 09:17 Hrs (IST)».
This is the third and last development flight from Sriharikota for SSLV. «It brings the SSLV development project to a close and opens up operational missions for NSIL and Indian industry,» Isro said. Following a successful liftoff, the SSLV project will be initiated in accordance with NSIL's and the industry's operational and commercial requirements. Compared to PSLV, which takes more than a month to assemble and requires more workers, SSLV is a smaller version of PSLV that can be put together in a matter of days with fewer workers.
Since SSLV is an affordable launch vehicle, it would increase the number of Isro's commercial launches and aid India in gaining a larger market share in the space launch services industry worldwide, which was valued at $14.9 billion in 2023 and is projected to expand at a 14.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2024 to 2030.
According to the space agency, the main goals of the EOS-08 satellite mission are to design and develop a microsatellite, create payload sensors that are compatible with the microsatellite bus, and incorporate new technologies that will be needed for operational satellites in the future.
With a one-year mission life, the spacecraft is configured for operation in a circular low earth orbit (LEO) at a height of 475 km
