Isro gears up for 4 launches this year

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will launch four satellites this year. The first to be launched would be the communication satellite GSAT-8 onboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on May 20.

The GSAT-8 spacecraft is envisaged to augment the growing need of Ku-band transponders carries 24-Ku Band transponders and 2-Channel GAGAN (GPS and GEO Augmented navigation) payloads.

This will be followed by the PSLV C-17, which will be launched in mid-July. The PSLV C-17 will carry GSAT-12, a communication satellite. Later in September, the PSLV-C18 will be launched carrying the Indo-French satellite Mega-Tropiques, which is devoted to the atmospheric research.

Finally, the PSLV-C19, with a payload of Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT), will be launched. The RISAT, a microwave remote sensing satellite carrying a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) will have ability to acquire data at C-Band in different mode of polarisation, incidence angle and resolution. “It will be able to penetrate through the clouds and see the ground,” said Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan.