ISRO to launch remote sensing satellite on Dec 7

CHENNAI: Capping a year of successful launches, Indian Space Research Organisation is all set to launch PSLV-C36 carrying remote sensing satellite RESOURCESAT-2A from the spaceport of Sriharikota on December 7, the space agency said on Sunday.

The 44.4 metre tall PSLV C36 is expected to place the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT2A into an 827km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in about 18 minutes after lift off.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-c36, in its 38th flight, will blast off at 10.24 AM from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, about 125 km from here, ISRO said on its website. The mission life of the satellite is five years.

RESOURCESAT-2A is a remote sensing satellite developed by ISRO and succeeds RESOURCESAT-1 and RESOURCESAT-2 launched in 2003 and 2011, respectively.

It is intended to continue the remote sensing data services to global users and would carry similar payloads as carried by its prede- cessors RESOURCESAT-1 & RESOURCESAT-2.

RESOURCESAT-2A would carry a high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanner camera, medium resolution LISS-3 camera and an advanced wide field sensor camera that operates in various bands. It would also carry two solid state recorders with a capacity of 200GB to store the images taken by the cameras and which can be shared with ground stations.

A trusted workhorse of the space agency, PSLV has launched satellites in various orbits including sun synchronous orbit, low earth orbits, geosynchronous transfer orbt and sub-gto, registering 36 successful launches so far.

Between 1994 and 2016, PSLV has successfully launched 121 satellites of which 79 are from overseas, the rest being Indian satellites, ISRO said.

On September 8, ISRO launched advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR onboard GSLV-F05, tasting success on its maiden operational flight of its heavyduty rocket fitted with the indigenous cryogenic upper stage. On September 26, in its longest ever mission spread over two hours, PSLV successfully launched eight satellites, including the country's SCATSAT-1 and five satellites from other nations, in two different orbits to achieve another milestone.

GSAT-18, India's communication satellite, was launched on October 6 by a heavy-duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.