India’s ‘Sharpest Eye’ In The Sky

-
India launched its sharpest ‘eye in the sky’ from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the east coast on Wednesday. Riding on ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C47 on its 49th flight, India’s 3rd-generation advanced earth imaging and mapping satellite Cartosat-3 was lofted into sun-synchronous polar orbit just over 17 minutes after launch. Cartosat-3 is the highest resolution civilian satellite put into orbit by ISRO. The PSLV-C47 used for the launch was the most powerful version of the PSLV, which used six strap-on boosters. The rocket also carried 13 nanosatellites of two US customers as part of commercial arrangement with New Space India Limited (NSIL) of India’s Department of Space. The nanosatellites were released sequentially after Cartosat-3 was inserted into its planned orbit of 509 kilometres.

So far, the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, has orbited eight Cartosats since May 2005 – one Cartosat-1 and seven in the Cartosat-2 series. Data from most of them, especially the last four of theCartosat-2 series, launched in relatively quick succession in the last three years, are exclusively used by the armed forces. Weighing 1,625 kilograms, Cartosat-3 is more than double the mass of the previous eight in its class. Many new technologies have been developed and built in, such as a highly agile or flexible camera; high-speed data transmission, advanced computer system and new power electronics.

Cartosat-3 is the 9th in the Cartosat series of earth observation satellites and ushers in the third generation of high-resolution ‘optical imaging’ satellites that allow precise cartographic or mapping activities It can also be used for surveillance along our borders. Cartosat-3 offers the highest resolution of any earth observation satellite currently in orbit. With a ground resolution of 25 centimetres, it is better than that of WorldView-3, a satellite owned by US company Maxar, which had till now the best ground resolution of 31 centimetres. This means that Cartosat-3 can pick up an object of a minimum size of 25 centimetres from a height of around 500 kilometres. The last four satellites of the Cartosat-2 series – 2C, 2D, 2E and 2F – had a resolution of 65 centimetres.

Among the 13 nanosatellites is one satellite named MESHBED, whose mission objective is communication test bed, and 12 FLOCK-4P nanosatellites with mission objective of earth observation.

According to the ISRO, “The imageries from Cartosat series satellites are useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, infrastructure planning, coastal land use and regulation, utility management such as monitoring road networks, water grids or distribution, creation of land use maps, among others.”

A significant feature of the Cartosat-3 mission is the close participation of private industry in the Assembly, Integration & Testing of satellites. ISRO has stated its hopes that this will pave the way for end-to-end satellite development by the private industry. Presently, the agency aims to develop 12 to 18 satellites per year; reports have stated that the successful vendors will collectively be working on 27 satellites out of the 36 or more satellites that ISRO is projecting for the next three years.

Wednesday’s success has once again demonstrated the high reliability of the PSLV rocket, which has become the workhorse of ISRO. Out of 49 launches till date, the rocket has encountered only two failures so far – its maiden developmental flight ended unsuccessful way back in 1993. In September 2017, the PSLV performed perfectly and the flight went off without any hitch, but the IRNSS-1H satellite could not be released into orbit after the PSLV-C39’s heat shield failed to open before reaching the orbit. The PSLV has also been used to launch Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to Moon and the Mars Orbiter Mission to Mars.

ISRO is now gearing up to send the first Indians to space from Indian soil. The first Indian crew is scheduled to be sent to a low-earth orbit before the 75th anniversary of the country’s Independence in 2022. With a chain of successes behind it, ISRO can hopefully look forward to achieving it.

Script: Biman Basu, Senior Science Commentator

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Data Darbar Suicide Attack

-
The deadly attack on the famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan that killed 10 and injured more than 25 people is yet another ghastly reminder that Pakistan still shelters terrorist groups that have now come to haunt its own State. The suicide bombing was apparently targeted towards the elite security force that was assigned to guard the Shrine as the inflow of devotees increase during Ramadan. This is not the first time a Sufi Shrine was targeted by terrorists in Pakistan. Many Shrines like Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Baba Farid in Pakpattan and Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi were attacked in the past. The Sufi nature of these shrines has made them an easy target of the terrorist groups that consider Sufis to be heretics. The terror organisations within Pakistan such as the Pakistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Hizbul Ahrar (said to be a splinter faction of the local Taliban) that took responsibility for the latest bombings in...
Read more

Military Build-Up In The Persian Gulf

-
In response to the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week; the US Department of Defence announced that it is sending an additional 1,000 troops to bolster security in the Persian Gulf. This comes amidst the escalating tensions in the region following US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPoA) in May 2018. The US also re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran and last month ended all waivers for Iranian oil imports. President Donald Trump further decided to impose new sanctions and warned of secondary sanctions on individuals or entities doing business with Iranian industries under sanctions. Iran too had responded with warning other signatories of the JCPoA, especially UK, France and Germany, to do more to ease the impact of sanctions on Iranian economy failing which Tehran will be forced to retract from the deal. This prompted the US to send additional troops including Arlington and a Patriot missile battery. At ...
Read more

Pakistan’s Crippling Financial Crisis

-
As if the turmoil due to terrorism was not enough for Pakistan, it is facing fresh spate of demonstrations against unprecedented inflation that is putting the already crippling economy out of gear. Inflation is expected to rise to double-digitssoon. The major reason for this has been the steep rise in food and energy prices that has had a cascading effect on the process of other commodities. Pakistan’s imports are increasing and Foreign Exchange reserves have fallen to just about $8 billion; this is just enough for meeting payment obligations for two months. The exchange value of the Pakistani Rupee has fallen to 150 to a US dollar.It has been devalued 20 times during the past three years by about 20%. Since Pakistan is importing major part of its fuel requirements and many other commodities of daily consumption; steep inflation has led to almost halving the incomes of the people. This has led to large-scale public unrest in the country. Street protests led by Jamaat-e-Islami in Pesha...
Read more