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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 on Monday morning. At the end of the 48-hour countdown, the 44-meter tall four-stage PSLV-C12 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage.

PSLV C-12 at the launch pad early morning today

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, weighing 230 tonnes at the time of launch, soared into a clear sky at 6.45am(local time) from the spaceport here, 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.

The launch vehicle carries two payloads – RISAT-2 (with all weather capability to take images of Earth) and ANUSAT (the first satellite built by an Indian University to demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations).

The ANUSAT satellite made by the Anna University, Chennai

The rocket would place both the satellites in their orbits around the earth shortly. The SAR, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, gives RISAT defence capabilities.

ANUSAT is the first satellite developed by an Indian university (Anna University), which would demonstrate the technologies related to message storing and forward operations. University sources said scores of students and faculty from different streams had worked on this satellite for the last six years.

ANUSAT is a store-and-forward communication satellite that will help transfer confidential academic materials, including exam question papers, to prevent question paper leakages. It will also help monitor drought and wasteland, urban planning and other studies.

Above news from: TimesofIndia & pics from ISRO

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A fascinating read about the evolution and journey of the ultra secretive Indian spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) by a former intelligence officer of the organisation, B Raman.  The book tracks the birth  and the baby steps of the spy organisation under its founder father, Rameshwar Nath Kao.  So famous was the former spymaster and officers in it that the spies working in RAW were fondly called KAOboys (as in, the boys of Kao).

A detailed writeup of the book once i finish it.

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Other than a press conference and a brief note on the ISRO’s website, there doesnt seem to be much news about the Israeli spy satellite launch in the Indian papers. The Israeli papers are indicating that the satellite is meant to keep an eye on Iran.

India successfully launched an Israeli spy satellite into orbit in a boost to the South Asian nation’s efforts to win a share of the multi-billion-dollar space launch market.

The launch of the Tecsar satellite by an Indian-made rocket was carried out in clear weather at 9:15 am local time (0345 GMT) from the Sriharikota space station in southern India, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The 300-kilogram (650-pound) satellite, sometimes referred to as the Polaris, was steered into orbit about 20 minutes later, said Antrix Corporation, the marketing arm of the Bangalore-based space agency.

The satellite was designed and developed by MBT Space, a division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is equipped with a camera that can see through clouds and carry out day and night all-weather imaging.

Full article here.

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An Indian rocket may lift an Israeli spy satellite into orbit within days in the second deal to grab a share of the $2.5 billion global launch market, officials and reports said on Thursday. The Jerusalem Post said on Thursday that the launch of the 300 kg Tecsar, Israel’s most advanced satellite, could take place by the end of the week.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is to take the device into space. The launch “will take place when Israel wants it,” said K.R. Sridhara Murthi, head of Antrix Corp., the marketing arm of the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation.

Mr Murthi declined to give further details on the mission including a time-frame for the launch, beyond saying it will happen sometime this year. Lior Weintraub, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, declined to comment.

The satellite has a camera that can take pictures of small targets under cloudy and foggy conditions, the Jerusalem Post said. Israel took the decision to launch it from India three years ago. It contracted India because Israel lacks a vehicle capable of boosting the satellite into a polar orbit, said B.K. Pandey, a defence affairs analyst.

India also charges much less than space agencies in the West, Mr Pandey said. “The (launch vehicle) also has a very respectable record of success,” Mr Pandey said of the Indian rocket, which has 11 flights to its credit.

News courtesy: Deccan Chronicle Picture courtesy: Wikipedia

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