VOI World/ Desk
India’s space programme achieved a significant milestone on September 4 as ISRO successfully launched EOS-05, the country’s first-ever imaging satellite designed to operate from geosynchronous orbit.
The satellite was launched aboard the GSLV-F17 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 2:55 am. ISRO said the mission was successfully accomplished, with EOS-05 placed into its intended Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
EOS-05 is a state-of-the-art Earth observation spacecraft, but what makes the mission particularly significant is its planned operating orbit. Most Earth-imaging satellites orbit much closer to the planet and can observe a particular location only when they pass over it. A satellite operating from geosynchronous orbit, however, can repeatedly observe the same broad region from roughly 36,000 kilometres above Earth.
This could significantly strengthen India’s ability to monitor large areas in near real time. The satellite is expected to support applications including disaster management, environmental observation, urban and infrastructure planning and other Earth-observation requirements.
The successful mission also carries an important backstory. EOS-05, also known as GISAT-1A, revives India’s effort to establish a geosynchronous Earth-imaging capability after an earlier attempt with EOS-03 in 2021 failed due to an anomaly during the GSLV mission. The September 4 launch therefore marks a successful return to a capability India had attempted to develop earlier.
The mission is also significant for the GSLV programme. GSLV-F17 was the first GSLV launch since January 2022, and its success adds confidence to the launch vehicle, which uses an indigenous cryogenic upper stage.
For ISRO, however, the bigger achievement is EOS-05 itself. India now has an Earth-imaging satellite designed to observe the country and surrounding region from geosynchronous orbit, opening up the possibility of more persistent monitoring of large areas.
Rather than simply adding another satellite to India’s growing space programme, EOS-05 represents a new kind of Earth-observation capability—one that could prove particularly useful when events on the ground develop faster than conventional satellites can revisit the same location.
