The PSLV-C12, carrying 300-kg Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) and 40-kg Micro Satellite ANUSAT lifted off from ISRO''s Satish Dhawan space Centre here this morning. Israel Aerospace Industries, equips RISAT with defence capabilities. The SAR payload can take images during day, night and in all weather conditions, including under cloud cover, a capability that Indian satellites do not have.
Risat-2,’’ developed with inputs from Israel, which could have military applications, is slated for launch on April 20 at Sriharikota. The satellite on which the first student made satellite,”Anusat,’’ made by the students of the Chennai-based Madras Institute of Technology.
The 40 kg micro satellite ANUSAT, the co-passenger of RISAT 2, has been built by Anna University, to demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations. ANUSAT, the first built by an Indian University, is a ‘store-and-forward´ communication satellite that will help transfer confidential academic material and also monitor drought and wasteland, urban planning and other studies.
he Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, weighing 230 tonnes at the time of launch, soared into a clear sky at 0645 hrs IST from the spaceport, about 90 km north of Chennai.This is the 15th flight of ISRO''s workhorse PSLV, which had launched 30 satellites (14 for India and 16 for foreign countries) into a variety of orbits since 1993.