The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday said the satellites onboard its maiden Small Satellite Launch Vehicle “are no longer usable” after the SSLV-D1 placed them in an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one.
The space agency said a committee would analyse and make recommendations into Sunday’s episode and with the implementation of those recommendations “ISRO will come back soon with SSLV-D2.” “SSLV-D1 placed the satellites into 356 km x 76 km elliptical orbit instead of 356 km circular orbit. Satellites are no longer usable. Issue is reasonably identified. Failure of a logic to identify a sensor failure and go for a salvage action caused the deviation,” ISRO said in an update on its official Twitter handle.
