ISRO's much delayed and vaunted Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) suffered a setback during its maiden launch today. The first developmental flight SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission took-off at 09:18 am (IST) from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. SSLV-D1 mission which was to launch EOS-02, a 135 kg primary satellite.

SSLV is configured with three solid stages 87 t, 7.7 t and 4.5 t. The satellite insertion into the intended orbit is achieved through a liquid propulsion-based velocity trimming module. The mission also carries AzaadiSAT satellite. Girl students from rural regions across the country were provided guidance to build these payloads.

The editor of IDN assumes the error occurred during the coasting phase of the launch

Live telecast visuals confirmed the ejection of the EOS satellite, however, the AzaadiSat placement is unknown as there was no comment by the ISRO commentators during the launch on its status.

ISRO Chairman S Somnath later came on air to update on the status of the mission, he said that all stages of the rocket performed as expected the launch data is being analysed and the agency would get back with the status of the satellites (whether a stable orbit has been achieved or not) and on the launch vehicle performance as well shortly.