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The first radar imaging satellite of India will be put into orbit on Monday (April 20). The radar imaging satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will keep an eye on the earth in all-weather condition. The 300-kg satellite will take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, an island by the sea 100km north of Chennai. The satellite will be orbited about 550 km from the earth after 17 minutes of its launch.
A microsatellite called Anusat will also be sent to the orbit along with this radar imaging satellite. Anna University of Chennai has developed Anusat. While informing about the launch of radar imaging satellite, ISRO spokesperson, S Satish said that the countdown for the PSLV (C-12), which will lift the satellites, would start 48 hours before take-off. The spokesperson informed that radar imaging satellite will engage itself in probing earth's climatic condition in extreme situation.
The data from the imaging satellite will be extremely useful in disaster management, stated ISRO spokesperson. The soon to be launched imaging satellite uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the technique that is much advanced than optical imaging, used by ISRO's previous remote sensing satellites.
Apart from helping in disaster management, the satellite is also likely to evolve up as vital assistance tool for the defence applications. The radar imaging satellite has been developed with inputs from the Israeli Space Agency (ISA), informed ISRO spokesperson.
