Earth Observation Satellite: EOS-02

Context

The Union Minister of Science & Technology said that EOS (Earth Observation Satellite)-02 satellite will be launched in the second quarter of 2022.

About EOS-02 satellite

• EOS-02 (formerly known as Microsat-2A) is a planned Indian Earth observation microsatellite being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation. EOS-02 is based on Microsat-TD.
• EOS-02 will be launched on the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle's maiden flight SSLV-D1.
  • SSLV is the smallest vehicle weighing only 110-tonne.
  • It will take only 72 hours to integrate, unlike the 70 days taken now for a launch vehicle.
• It is intended to be used for cartographic applications at a cadastral level, urban and rural management, coastal land use and regulation, utilities mapping, development and various other GIS applications.
  • The satellite carries two payloads: a mid-wavelength and a long-wavelength infared camera with a 6m resolution.

What is an Earth Observation Satellite?

• Earth observation satellite is also known as the Earth remote sensing satellite. As the name suggests, the satellites observe the planet Earth from space.
• The first EOS or remote sensing satellite was Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite sent to Earth's orbit by the Soviet Union in 1957. 
  • It was used to study the topmost layer of Earth's atmosphere, the ionosphere.
• Most EOS operate at about 500 to 600 kilometres from the surface of the earth and due to the substantial air drag they face at such a lower altitude, their orbits have to be rebooted frequently.