The Indian Space Research Organisation, on Wednesday 22 May, successfully launched India's all-weather radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2B on-board the PSLV–C46 rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota.
The launch was streamed live on the ISRO’s website.
The workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), on its 48th mission, PSLV–C46, was scheduled for lift-off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, at 5:30 am Wednesday, 22 May.
The 615 kg satellite, meant for applications in fields such as surveillance, agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, was released into orbit about 15 minutes after lift-off.
ISRO Chairman K Sivan described the mission as "very very important" on Tuesday, 21 May but did not elaborate.
"Tomorrow morning at 5.30 am, we are going to have the PSLV-C46 mission which is going to launch satellite RISAT 2B and this is very very important mission for India...It is an excellent satellite with hi-fi earth observation (capabilities)", he said.
Speaking to reporters after offering prayers at the famous Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirupati ahead of the launch, Sivan said that after RISAT-2B, ISRO would turn to Chandrayaan-2 which is scheduled for launch between 9 and 16 July."
“Everybody is looking very eagerly for that mission and ISRO would look at landing the rover of Chandrayaan-2 (on Lunar surface) by 6 September.”K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO
ISRO said the countdown for RISAT-2B began at 4:30 am, on Tuesday, 21 May and was progressing smoothly.
RISAT-2B, which would replace RISAT-2 launched in 2009, is equipped with synthetic aperture radar that can take pictures of earth day and night and also under cloudy conditions.
With a mission of life of five years, it would also be used for military surveillance, ISRO sources told PTI.
RISAT-2 has been actively used by India to monitor activities in camps across the border in Pakistan to thwart infiltration bids by terrorists.
PSLV-C46 is the 14th flight of the PSLV in its core-alone configuration sans the use of the solid strap-on motors. and would be the 72nd launch vehicle mission from Sriharikota and also marks the 36th launch from the first launch pad at the spaceport.
About the RISAT Series
Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) is a series of satellites developed by ISRO, intended to provide all-weather surveillance round the clock. The satellites use synthetic aperture radars (SAR) to create two and three dimensional images of landscapes.
The first of the series, RISAT-1, was designed to provide images for application in agriculture, forest cover monitoring and management of natural disasters like floods and cyclones. It was launched in April 2012.
The RISAT-2, is a reconnaissance “spy” satellite which is capable of monitoring Indian borders to detect infiltration. ISRO officially maintains that it is for “earth observation” and “disaster management applications.” The satellite was launched in April 2009, before the RISAT 1, as its development was reportedly fast-tracked after the 2008 attack on Mumbai.
Before the RISAT series, India used to rely on optical imaging satellites which could not see through heavy cloud cover.
India is also gearing up to launch Chandrayaan 2 in July 2019, its second mission to the moon. Read about it here.
Tomorrow's launch of PSLV also marks the third launch in 2019.
Previous launches by ISRO in 2019 included the EMISAT Mission which successfully injected DRDO’s EMISAT and 29 international customer satellites on 1 April, on board the PSLV-C45.
Besides PSLV-C45, ISRO had successfully launched PSLV-C44 which successfully placed Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites in the designated orbits on 24 January, 2019.
ISRO had launched RISAT-1 (Radar Satellite-1), a microwave remote sensing satellite, on 26 April 2012 from Sriharikota.
(With inputs from PTI)
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