India ready with all-weather imaging satellite: ISRO

Bangalore: India is set to launch an indigenous satellite with the "unique" capability to capture images in all-weather conditions that will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, ISRO said today. 

India currently depends on images from a Canadian satellite as domestic remote sensing spacecraft cannot take pictures of the ground during cloud cover. 

After nearly 10 years of effort, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed -- with a lot of participation from Indian industries -- a microwave satellite that has the unique capability of imaging during day and night and in all weather conditions, it said. 
"This (Radar Imaging Satellite or RISAT-1) is about 1,850 kg. So, this will be heaviest satellite lifted by a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)," ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said. 

"It's most likely to be launched on April 26 at 5.45 am," he said. "It has taken about 10 years of efforts in developing this (RISAT-1)". The approved cost of RISAT-1, including its development, is Rs 378 crore, while Rs 120 crore has been spent to build the rocket (PSLV-C19), making it a Rs 498-crore mission. 

RISAT-1 is a "complex satellite", Radhakrishnan said. 

The satellite would be particularly useful in Kharif season when cloud-covered atmosphere is frequent. Images taken from the spacecraft of agricultural crops would enable planners with regard to production estimation and forecast, the space agency said. 

During floods, aerial pictures would give a clear idea on the affected region and water level. In addition, this satellite can even "penetrate" the ground and throw light on soil moisture up to a few centimeters, Radhakrishnan said. 

RISAT-1 would be launched into a 536-km orbit by PSLV, which is India's workhorse rocket. 

The satellite carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode to provide images with coarse, fine and high spatial resolutions. 

Radhakrishnan said ISRO had built two SARs in the past but these had been flown on aircraft. 

INSAT-2E completes 13 years of successful operation

Bangalore: After 13 years of operation, INSAT-2E, the last of the five satellites in the INSAT-2 series, has successfully completed its mission life. INSAT-2E was built with a planned mission life of 12 years and continued to function beyond that, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here today. Launched on April 3, 1999 by the European Ariane-5 launcher, INSAT-2E was positioned at 830 East longitude in the geostationary orbit. INSAT-2E carried 14 C-band and 5 lower extended C-band transponders for various communication services. The satellite also carried a Very High Resolution Radiometer and a Charge Coupled Device camera for meteorological observation. The 11 communication transponders of 36 MHz bandwidth onboard INSAT-2E were leased to International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation (INTELSAT), the first such lease from an Indian satellite. INSAT-2E was controlled from Master Control Facility at Hassan.

ISRO bags Rs 100 cr deal to launch French satellite

Bangalore: Indian Space Research Organisation has signed a deal, believed to be valued at around Rs 100 crore, to launch an 800 kg satellite of ASTRIUM SAS, a Company under EADS, France. ISRO said in a statement a commercial launch services agreement between Antrix Corporation Limited (ANTRIX), its commercial arm, and ASTRIUM SAS, has been inked but gave no financial details of the deal. But sources in the Bangalore-headquartered space agency told a news agency here the contract was worth around Rs 100 crore. "Under this agreement, an advanced Remote Sensing satellite - SPOT-6 - weighing nearly 800 kg, built by ASTRIUM SAS, will be launched on-board ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, during the second half of 2012", ISRO said. Along with SPOT- 6 satellite, the PSLV, in its "core alone" configuration, will also carry other co-passenger payloads. This launch services deal signed between ANTRIX and ASTRIUM is a part of the long-term agreement signed between the two agencies in September 2008. In November 2010, under a commercial contract between ANTRIX and ASTRIUM, an advanced communication satellite HYLAS was successfully built by ISRO and ASTRIUM together for a European customer. "In the coming days, further collaboration possibilities between ANTRIX/ISRO and ASTRIUM would be explored," ISRO added in the statement.