ISRO to launch remote sensing satellite this month
05 Apr 2008
Mumbai: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a remote sensing satellite equipped with high-resolution cameras and advanced scientific instruments later this month.
Slated for launch on 28 April, Cartosat-2A, the all-weather reconnaissance satellite, will be used for urban and rural development planning.
"The tentative launch date is 28 April and the exact date and time will be finalised in a fortnight after factoring weather and other relevant data," chairman G Madhavan Nair said in Bangalore.
The satellite will be launched by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Sriharikota space station.
Similar to the mapping satellite Cartosat-2, launched in January 2007, the 680-kg (1,500-pound) Cartosat-2A will be placed in a polar orbit at an altitude of 630 km (391 miles). It can also be used for intelligence gathering.
Along with Cartosat-2A, the PSLV will also carry a Third World Satellite (TWSAT) and eight nano satellites.
Cartosat-2A will have a panchromatic camera capable of providing scene-specific spot imageries for cartographic and other applications. "It has better than one metre resolution", an ISRO official said.
TWSAT would be a co-passenger, along with eight nano satellites, which have come from countries, including the Netherlands, Canada and Germany, ISRO sources said.
TWSAT is the first satellite in the micro satellite series envisaged to provide a 100 kg class satellite platform for carrying payloads for earth imaging, space science, atmospheric and ocean studies, sources said.
TWSAT will carry a multi-spectral camera. Data generated will be transmitted to user terminals, which will be PC-based systems along with RF downlink and antenna systems.
The data will be provided free to research organisations, universities and institutions in the developing countries, sources added.