RISAT-I launched successfully

The PSLV justified its workhorse tag with this launch,the 20th successful one on the trot,but todays was anything but routine.

It took years of dreaming and planning,and in the end,it all boiled down to a tension-filled 18 minutes for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV to successfully place the first indigenous radar imaging satellite,RISAT-I,in its predetermined orbit after a perfect lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Thursday.

The PSLV justified its workhorse tag with this launch,the 20th successful one on the trot,but todays was anything but routine. For,at 1,858 kg,this was the heaviest payload carried by a PSLV. And the satellite itself was so sophisticated that it took a decade for the experts of the Indian Space Research Organisation to master the technology and manufacture one.

After a 71-hour countdown,the longest ever,the PSLV-C19 XL took off at 5.47 am on Thursday and its four stages burned one after the other as planned precisely to place the satellite in its transit orbit lying 470 km high. In the next three days,the on-board propulsion system would gradually nudge the satellite to its final orbital altitude of 536 km. Soon afterwards,the RISAT-I would start beaming pictures,and would continue for the next five years.

The successful operation was met with cheers in the mission control room where top scientists and technicians gathered. They were joined by Prof Yashpal and U R Rao,two founding members of the ISRO.

With this,India has joined a select group of nations who have the capability to make a remote sensing satellite, said ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan,who termed it as a great success which would significantly benefit the common man.

T K Alex,the Director of ISRO Satellite Centre termed it a great day for the Indian satellite experts community. The day was extra special for N Valarmathi,a senior scientist from Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu who was the project director of RISAT-I. Yashpal and Rao stressed the significance of a woman heading such an important project.

Being an active microwave satellite,this is Indias new eye in the sky that would monitor the situation on the ground without being affected by weather conditions. Unlike usual satellites, the RISAT uses a synthetic aperture radar that enables it to image the surface of earth during day and night,rain,clouds or fog. Till now,India has been making use of a Canadian satellite for the purpose,as radar imaging has been a closely-guarded secret by a select few countries. This is Indias second remote sensing satellite,the first one being RISAT-II that was procured from Israel and launched in 2009 for security surveillance purpose.

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Though it is widely believed that RISAT-I has an important role in surveillance,Radhakrishnan said the main purpose was two- fold. First,it would help forecast weather which would help in food production. Second,it can monitor flood inundation within hours.

The satellite cost Rs 378 crore and Rs 110 crore for the rocket,said ISRO officials.