Amid the escalating tension on the border leading to launch of Operation Sindoor to dismantle and destroy Pakistan terror camps, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the launch of Radar Imaging Satellite EOS-09 (RISAT-1B), which will provide high-resolution radar imagery, especially of India’s border regions, on May 18.ISRO will be using its workhorse launch vehicle PSLV for this mission. The PSLV-C61/RISAT-1B launch will take place from the First Launch Pad at 06.59 am on May 18 from SHAR Range, Sriharikota. The satellite will be injected into a sun-synchronous orbit.
ISRO is likely to use the 44 m tall XL version of the four-stage PSLV rocket., which has a lift off mass of 320.
In a post on X, ISRO Spaceflight said “ISRO is set to launch the PSLV-C61 mission on May 18 at 6:59 am!” “It’ll carry the EOS-09 (RISAT-1B) radar imaging satellite into Sun Synchronous Orbit.”
“Though it’s not a “spy satellite”, EOS-09 will provide high-res radar imagery, especially of India’s border regions”, it said.
According to space launch, RISAT-1B is the third in the series of radar imaging RISAT-1 satellites of ISRO using an active C-band SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar),
providing all-weather as well as the day-and-night SAR observation capability in applications such as agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, geology, sea ice, coastal monitoring, object identification, and flood monitoring, in addition to military surveillance.
The RISAT-1 series is developed, manufactured and integrated by ISRO. The 3-axis stabilized spacecraft bus consists of a hexagonal prism shape build around a central cylinder.
Most of the spacecraft subsystems and the payload are integrated in the prism structure and the central cylinder. The solar panels and some subsystems are mounted on the cube-shaped section of the spacecraft.
SAR can be used for Earth observation irrespective of the light and weather conditions of the area being imaged. It complements/supplements data from Resourcesat, Cartosat and RISAT-2B Series.
The satellite carries a C-band SAR and has a liftoff mass of 1,710 kg .The EOS-09 orbit is polar and Sun-synchronous at an altitude of about 529 km.