The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12) on Monday put in orbit Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2), a surveillance satellite, which could keep a watch on the country’s borders.
This is the first time the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is putting in orbit a RISAT in the micro-wave band. It can take images of the earth day and night, see through clouds and identify objects on the ground.
The 300-kg RISAT-2 has been procured from Israel. Anusat, built by Anna University, Chennai, was also put in orbit by the PSLV-C12. It is an experimental communication satellite meant for storing and relaying information.
Asked whether the RISAT-2’s synthetic aperture radar operating in the X-band meant that it would be used for defence applications, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said, “There is nothing like a spy satellite in our agenda. We have only earth observation, communication and scientific satellites.”
The RISAT-2 could precisely look at water bodies and vegetation. Its images would have wide ramifications in managing disasters such as cyclones, floods and landslips.
Courtesy : The hindu , online newspaper
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