The Hindu
ISRO's launch vehicle PSLV-C19, carrying the RISAT-1 satellite, lifts
off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, near Chennai on
Thursday. Photo: K. Pichumani
The PSLV-C19, the newest in the series of polar satellite launch
vehicles of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), burst off the
launch-pads of Sriharikota in the wee hours of Thursday on its space
mission of placing indigenously developed Radar Imaging Satellite the RISAT-1 in a polar circular orbit.
After a customarily tense countdown at the ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space
Centre in Sriharikota, at precisely 5.47 a.m., the launch vehicle’s core
stage igniters and set of six strap-on motors ignited within seconds of
each to signal the successful lift-off of the PSLV-C19 with the RISAT
-1 firmly docked inside its metal frames.
Click here to download the PDF version of the RISAT-1 graphic
The RISAT-1 with a payload of 1858 kg, the heaviest satellite being
launched yet by the PSLV, is a state-of-the-art Active Microwave Remote
Sensing Satellite carrying a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload that
will operate in the C-band. In simpler terms, the RISAT-1 can beam back
imaging of the earth surface features during day and night and under
all imagined weather conditions. The SAR which gives the RISAT-1 its
magic lens also makes it superior to the generation of optical remote
sensing satellites in terms of clearer imaging at all times and under
any condition.
Once the PSLV-C19 successfully completed each of the four stages of its
flight in a span of 18 minutes and reported normal parameters,
congratulatory scenes broke out at the Mission Directorate at
Sriharikota.
Addressing the team of scientists and engineers, ISRO Chairman K.
Radhakrishnan said he was happy to announce that the PSLV-C19 was a
“grand success” and had injected into polar orbit India's first Radar
Imaging Satellite. Prof. Radhakrishnan also laid out the roadmap of PSLV
launches during the year ahead and the stated that the ground tests of
the GSLV driven by indigenous cryogenic technology had been promising
and was scheduled completion in September-October this year.
Prof. Yashpal and Prof. U.R. Rao, two of ISRO's founding fathers were
also present to partake in the celebrations of what they described as a
landmark event.
According to ISRO scientists, once the satellite onboard propulsion
system will raise the orbital altitude to 536 km with orbital
inclination of approximately 97 degrees to place the RISAT-1 into a
polar sun-synchronous orbit, the satellite will begin its daily routine
of 14 orbits with a of 25 days. During its mission life of five years,
RISAT-1 will use its active microwave remote sensing capability for
cloud penetration and day-night imaging of the earth surface and provide
critical data inputs for a range of applications.
The satellite’s applications will range across agriculture — paddy
monitoring in the kharif season — and management of natural disasters
like flood and cyclone and could greatly assist food security planning
in India.
The PSLV C-19 is the 21st flight in the PSLV series of satellite
launches and the third to involve the high-end version (PSLV-XL)
equipped with six extended strap-on motors, each carrying 12 tonnes of
solid propellant. The two earlier flights of PSLV-XL were used to launch
Chandrayaan-1 and GSAT-12 communication satellite.
The RISAT-1 is expected to unfold its sensors and send back active imaging in five days.
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