India's First SSLV Mission Fails, Satellites On Board Deemed Unusable

The launch vehicle failed to deploy two payloads in the correct orbit, thereby deeming them no longer usable.

On Sunday morning, India's new rocket launched for the very first time but failed to deliver its satellite payloads into its proper orbit. The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in India at 9:18 a.m. local time, carrying two satellites onboard.

According to Space.com, India's SSLV, which measured 112 feet or 34 meters tall, executed three solid-fueled stages, which all performed well. However, the fourth and final stage, which was a liquid-fueled "velocity trimming module" (VTM), reported a loss of data from the rocket.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) officials confirmed the loss of data from the rocket and announced five hours after launch that the first SSLV mission failed.

Why Did India's First SSLV Mission Fail?

ISRO Chairman S. Somanath released a video statement following India's first SSLV mission, explaining that despite its good performance at the beginning, the vehicle soon left the two satellites on board in the wrong orbit. He added that the satellites had been placed in an elliptical orbit instead of a circular orbit.

Specifically, the SSLV had placed the satellites in an elliptical orbit as close as 76 kilometers from the Earth instead of the supposed circular orbit of 356 kilometers above the Earth. Scientists deemed the orbit unstable and the satellites had "already come down, and they are not usable," Somanath remarked.

ISRO officials took to Twitter to explain that the orbit issue was caused by a sensor failure that had not been detected in time to switch to a "salvage action." They added that an investigation into the failed first SSLV mission is already being planned.

Somanath announced that the ISRO is committed to identifying the specific problem that caused the isolation and why the first SSLV mission went into an "unacceptable orbit." Data from this investigation will be used to correct issues for the second SSLV test flight.

Aside from this problem, Somanath said that there were no other anomalies found in the first SSLV mission, adding that other elements of the rocket had "performed very well."

How the SSLV Was Developed and What It Delivered

In March, ISRO completed its final testing on the SSLV, India's newest launch vehicle that was designed to provide cheaper and more flexible access to space. The development could be traced back to the formation of the ISRO in 1969, when they first began to develop the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), NASA Spaceflight reported.

It was in the mid-2010s when ISRO and NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) began working on a small-sat launcher called the SSLV, which was designed to carry 500 to 700 kg to low Earth Orbit (LEO). Designed with simplicity in mind, the SSLV allows easy assembly in just a few days compared to other rockets.

Like ISRO's previous rockets, the SSLV is a three-stage rocket that uses a solid-propellant. The first stage is powered by the newly developed S-85 Solid Booster Stage (SS1), which provides a max thrust of 2,496 kN, burning for 94.3 seconds.

The first SSLV mission carried EOS-02, a 300-pound experimental Earth-observation satellite, which according to ISRO officials is a satellite that offers "advanced optical remote sensing operating in infrared band with high spatial resolution." The other satellite was an 18-pound cubesat called AzaadiSAT.