Chennai: The countdown for the launch early Thursday morning of a rocket carrying remote sensing satellite Risat-1 has begun in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, an ISRO official said, a step which will reinforce India's international leadership within the field.The indigenous Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-1) with a life-span of 5 years would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry, and therefore the high resolution footage and microwave imaging may even be used for defence functions, an ISRO official told IANS not desirous to be named within the report.
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is prepared on the launch pad at Sriharikota, 80-km from here, to go off at five.47 a.m on April twenty six ferrying the one,858 kg Risat-1, a completely Indian-built spy/surveillance satellite.The countdown for the Thursday launch started at vi.47 a.m Monday. The filling of the propellant (2.5 tonne) for the fourth stage/engine is progressing smoothly. identical propellant however in tiny quantities (600 kg) will be stuffed for the powering the rocket management systems,' an ISRO official preferring anonymity told IANS.Remote sensing satellites send back footage and different knowledge to be used. India has the biggest constellation of remote sensing satellites within the world providing imagery in an exceedingly type of spatial resolutions, from quite a meter ranging up to five hundred metres, and could be a major player in vending such knowledge within the international market.
With eleven remote sensing/earth observation satellites orbiting within the house, India could be a world leader within the remote sensing knowledge market. The eleven satellites are TES, Resourcesat one, Cartosat 1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS 1, Risat-2, Oceansat 2, Resourcesat-2, Megha-Tropiques. The satellite's artificial aperture radar (SAR) will acquire knowledge at C-band. In 2009, ISRO had launched three hundred kg Risat-2 with an Israeli engineered SAR enabling earth observation on all weather, day and night conditions.
According to an ISRO official, Tuesday the rocket systems are going to be charged with gases and fuelling of the rocket's second stage with liquid propellant would happen.Also, charging of batteries and pressurisation of propellant tanks on-board the satellite are going to be performed. Readiness of varied ground systems like tracking radar systems and communication networks will be checked.
The rocket would inject Risat-1 satellite into an orbit of 480 km altitude at an inclination of ninety seven.552 degree. The satellite are going to be place in its final orbital configuration at 536 km altitude using thrusters onboard the satellite.The rocket that will sling Risat-1 are going to be the four staged PSLV's upgraded variant referred to as PSLV-XL which might weigh 320 tonnes at lift-off.The letters XL symbolize additional giant because the six strap-on motors hugging the rocket at very cheap will carry twelve tonnes of solid fuel as against the bottom version that features a fuel capability of 9 tonnes.
The PSLV's four stages are fuelled with solid and liquid propellants. the primary and third stages are fuelled by solid fuel whereas the second and fourth stages are powered by liquid fuel.ISRO had used the PSLV-XL variant (rocket with extended strap-on motors than what the bottom model has) for its moon mission (Chandrayaan-1) in 2008 and for launching its communication satellite GSAT-12 in 2011.According to ISRO officers the rocket launch are going to be managementled by house scientists at the new mission control center inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil this January.
The new mission management center is fashionable and has larger space to accommodate extra space scientists, officials, VIPs and others.
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