ABHIMANU IAS SPEAKS

REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE RISAT-1 

• India has successfully launched its first indigenous 'spy satellite' RISAT-1 from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.
•  RISAT: Radar Imaging Satellite
• The rocket that delivered Risat-1 in the space is ISRO’s four stage PSLV's upgraded variant called PSLV-XL.
• The letters XL stand for extra large as the six strap-on motors hugging the rocket at the bottom can carry 12 tonnes of solid fuel as against the base version that has a fuel capacity of nine tonnes.

 ABOUT RISAT-1:

• India’s first satellite with indigenously developed synthetic aperture radar having all weather and day-night imaging capability.
• Weighing 1858 kg, RISAT-1 is the heaviest satellite ever launched by the PSLV.
• Its orbit period is 95.49 minutes. It will complete 14 orbits every day.

 APPLICATION:

• RISAT-1 will have applications in agriculture and in management of natural disasters like floods and cyclone.
• It can also be used for defence purposes.

REMOTE SENSING SATELLITES:

•  Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use.
• India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.
• The 11 satellites are TES, Resourcesat-1, Cartosat-1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS-1, Risat-2, Oceansat-2, Resourcesat-2 and Megha-Tropiques.