4.4.19

Isro to launch five military sats this year

Starting 2019 with lift-off of two DRDO satellites, Isro will launch five military satellites this year that will enhance India’s surveillance capabilities. It is scheduled to launch four new series Risat satellites and an advanced Cartosat-3 satellite.

Isro chairman K Sivan said, “In May, PSLV-C46 rocket will launch Risat-2B and thereafter in June-end, PSLV-C47 will launch Cartosat-3. Cartosat-3 is the advanced version with the capability to zoom up to a resolution of 0.2 metre, which is considered the best in the world.”

The resolution of Cartosat-3 will be so refined that it will be able to capture clear images of small objects like a gun. Sivan said Risat-2BR1 will be launched in July, Risat-2BR2 in October and Risat-1A in November. “We will launch a new series of remote-sensing satellite Gisat-1 and Gisat-2 in September and November, which have both military and civilian use.

Till now, old imaging satellites could map an area only once in 22 days. With Gisat, military can scan an area every other day. The satellite will provide near real-time pictures of large areas under cloud-free conditions.

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