India’s defence surveillance capabilities received a quantum boost on Monday with the launch of an all-weather day-and-night spy satellite.
India’s defence surveillance capabilities received a quantum boost on Monday with the launch of an all-weather day-and-night spy satellite that has the capability to look through clouds and fog.
The launch of the radar imaging satellite, RISAT-2, equipped with a sophisticated Israeli-built synthetic aperture radar (SAR), was hastened in the wake of the 26/11 attacks. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is still building the RISAT-1.
At 6.45 am, the Isro workhorse, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), soared with a deep-throated growl with 340 kg of luggage — the 300-kg RISAT-2 and the 40-kg Anusat educational satellite built by Chennai’s Anna University with Isro funds.
After 17 minutes into flight guided by Isro-developed navigation systems, the 229-tonne rocket slung RISAT-2,540 km above Earth and Anusat 10 km away. Immediately after their launch, the Spacecraft Control Centre in Bangalore with the help of ISTRAC network of stations in Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius and other places monitored the trajectories of the two satellites.
Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said, “This is a fantastic New Year gift for the country. Performance of the vehicle is precise. There is no deviation to the planned flight path. Both the spacecraft were delivered into orbit.”
Nair said RISAT-2 “is an imaging satellite that can identify features on ground. There is nothing as a spy satellite. Though the satellite has a global coverage we will use it only
for our use”.
However, the presence of the SAR on board made it clear that it would largely be used for military purposes, particularly along the India-Pakistan frontier in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.
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