By IANS
Bangalore : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its advanced remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2A, with high resolution stereo cameras and scientific instruments April 28, a space agency official said here Friday.
“We have rescheduled the launch of Cartosat-2A to this month-end. The tentative launch date is April 28. The exact date and time will be finalised in a fortnight after factoring weather and other relevant data,” ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a space event.
Identical to the mapping satellite Cartosat-2 that was launched Jan 10, 2007, the 680 kg Cartosat-2A will be placed in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 630 km by polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C7) from Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 90 km from Chennai.
“Cartosat-2A will have a panchromatic camera designed to provide imagery with one metre spatial resolution and a swathe of 9.6 km to spot objects measuring the same size. The new satellite is also capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery for cartographic and other applications,” Nair said after the second phase of a Karnataka telemedicine project was
unveiled.
The PSLV will also carry eight micro-satellites, including TWSat (third world satellites) as additional payloads for remote sensing applications. The 5-20 kg satellites will be from three European countries and from Canada.
As the 13th Indian remote sensing (IRS) satellite in the polar orbit, Cartosat-2A data will be used for planning rural and urban development. It will also have high agility to steer across the track up to plus or minus 45 degrees.
“The reconnaissance all-weather satellite can also be used for dedicated applications such as intelligence gathering and national security purpose,” another official told IANS on condition of anonymity.