ISRO: Countdown for launch of EOS-03 satellite begins
Sriharikota (AP): The 26-hour countdown for the launch of earth observation satellite onboard GSLV-F10 commenced here on Wednesday, Indian Space Research Organisation said.
The launch of the satellite would be the second for ISRO in 2021 after its successful mission in February, which was Brazil's earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites.
Thursday's launch was originally planned in April or May this year but the exercise was postponed due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Countdown for the launch of GSLV-F10/EOS-03 mission commenced today at 0343 hours from Satish Dhawan Space Centre", Sriharikota, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said in a notification.
The earth observation satellite would provide real time images of the country and borders and also able to quick monitor of natural disasters.
"The state-of-the-art agile Earth Observation satellite EOS-03 will be placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10. Subsequently, the satellite will reach the final geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system", ISRO said in another notification.
The mission was the first flight of GSLV with a four metre dia Ogive Payload fairing that can accommodate larger payloads, ISRO said.
According to ISRO, the filling of propellant for the liquid strap-on motors located on the sides of the rocket has been completed.
The lift-off is scheduled at 05.43 am from the second launch pad at Sriharikota about 100kms from Chennai and the separation of the earth observation satellite 03 was expected to take place after 19 minutes.
The objective of the mission was to provide near real time imaging of large area region at frequent intervals; for quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic events and obtain spectral signatures for agriculture, forestry, water bodies as well as for disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloud burst and thunderstorm monitoring.
The mission life is 10 years, ISRO said. Previous launches of GSLV include the GSLV-MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2 mission on July 2019 while GSLV-F11 successfully placed GSAT-7A in December 2018.
The previous earth observation satellite was launched by ISRO in November 2020 onboard a polar satellite launch vehicle.
"PSLV-C49 successfully placed the EOS-01 on November 7, 2020. The mission objective was a disaster management system, earth observation. It was intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support," ISRO said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Railways announces 84 special trains following IndiGo flight cancellations
New Delhi (PTI): The Railways announced 84 special trains across all zones for Saturday to help people facing travel disruptions due to the mass flight cancellations by IndiGo.
In a coordinated move by the Railway Ministry, the trains, which are to make 104 trips, were arranged in the shortest possible time after analysis of train traffic situations in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna, and Howrah, among others.
"The number of special trains and their trips might increase further depending on the traffic scenario. All zones have been asked to make use of all available resources, including rolling stock as well as manpower, to safely operate these trains for the convenience of lakhs of passengers stranded at different parts of the country due to flight cancellations," said Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information & Publicity, Railway Board.
Officials said efforts are being made to make people aware about the trains, and some divisions have even disseminated information at nearby airports to help passengers.
South Eastern Railway has issued a press release and informed the Airport Authority to display information regarding the newly introduced special train services.
ALSO READ: SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
"Western Railway will run seven special trains on a special fare between Mumbai Central-New Delhi, Mumbai Central-Bhiwani, Mumbai Central-Shakur Basti, Bandra Terminus-Durgapura, Valsad-Bilaspur, Sabarmati-Delhi and Sabarmati-Delhi Sarai Rohilla stations," a press note said.
Similarly, South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights.
Central Railway and Northern Railway have planned 14 and 10 special trains respectively, and officials said these numbers are being further reviewed to meet any rising requirements.
Other zones have also issued notifications regarding special trains along with their schedules.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggages have been misplaced.
