ISRO to launch EOS-6, eight nano satellites on November 26

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C54 of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will on Saturday launch EOS-6 (Earth Observation Satellite – 06) and eight nano satellites from Sriharikota. This is the 56th flight of the PSLV.

The national space agency said EOS-6, the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series, was designed to provide continuity services of Oceansat-2. Satellite features are part of a widened scope of applications, an additional datasets including sea surface temperature. The launch is scheduled at 11.56 am on Saturday, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota.

Anand, a hyperspectral satellite developed by Bengaluru-based Pixxel, is one of the eight nano satellites set for the Saturday launch. The satellite is a technology demonstrator aimed at validating capabilities and commercial applications of a miniature earth observation camera in Low Earth Orbit.

The PSLV-C54 mission will carry as payload four Astrocast satellites, for US-based Spaceflight. Two Thybolt satellites, developed by Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space, will also be on board the PSLV-C54.

The Isro-Nano Satellite 2 for Bhutan (INS-2B) is the ninth satellite in the mission. The satellite will have two payloads – NanoMx, a multispectral optical imaging payload developed by Isro’s Space Applications Centre, and an APRS-Digipeater payload jointly developed by the Department of IT and Telecom, Bhutan, and the U R Rao Satellite Centre.

The PSLV-C54 mission comes eight days after Vikram-S, India’s first privately built rocket, lifted off from Sriharikota, ushering in a new age of industry collaboration in the country’s space sector.