India would launch its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 and nine international customer spacecraft onboard its PSLV-C49 rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 7, ISRO said on October 28.
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This is the first launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation since the COVID-19-induced lockdown came into force in March.
ISRO chairman K. Sivan said in June that 10 space missions being prepared for launch in 2020 have been “disturbed” due to the lockdown.
EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, ISRO said. “The launch is tentatively scheduled at 3.02 p.m. IST on November 7 subject to weather conditions” from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, it said in a statement.
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The customer satellites are being launched under commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space, the space agency said, without giving further details.
This will be the 51st mission of ISRO’s workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
In view of the strict COVID-19 pandemic norms in place at the launch centre, gathering of media personnel there was not planned and the viewing gallery will be closed, ISRO said. However, the live telecast of the launch will be available on ISRO website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter channels, it added.
Speaking to PTI in June, Dr. Sivan said ISRO will make an assessment of the impact of the lockdown on its missions. “Because of this (pandemic), everything got disturbed. We have to make an assessment after the COVID-19 issue is resolved,” he had said.
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