ISRO to launch earth observation satellite EOS-01 on Nov 7
Bengaluru: India would launch its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 and nine international customer spacecraft onboard its Polar rocket PSLV-C49 from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 7, ISRO said on Wednesday.
This is the first launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) since the COVID-19 induced lockdown came into force in March.
ISRO Chairman K Sivan had said in June that ten space missions being prepared for launch this year have been 'disturbed' due to the lockdown.
EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, the city- headquartered ISRO said.
"The launch is tentatively scheduled at 3.02 pm on November 7 subject to weather conditions" from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, it said in a statement.
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 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
In view of the strict COVID-19 pandemic norms in place at the launch centre, a 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 the ISRO website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter channels, it added.
Speaking to PTI in June, Sivan had 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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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
