Remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2A successfully launched
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2A into its dedicated orbit.
It was launched onboard of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C36 from first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It was PSLV’s 38th flight and XL version of the rocket was used. It was the 37th consecutive successful flight of the rocket.
About Resourcesat-2A
- Resourcesat-2A is a follow on mission to its predecessor remote sensing satellites Resourcesat-1 and Resourcesat-2, launched in 2003 and 2011 respectively.
- It is intended to continue the remote sensing data services to global users provided by it two predecessors.
- Resourcesat-2A weighs 1,235 kg and is placed into an 817 km polar sun synchronous orbit (i.e. orbiting pole-to-pole). The mission life of Resourcesat-2A is five years.
- It carries three payloads viz. high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS-4) camera, medium resolution LISS-3 camera, and coarse resolution Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) camera. These three cameras of different resolution.
- These cameras will give regular micro and macro information on land and water bodies below, forests, farm lands and crop extent, coastal information, mineral deposits, rural and urban spreads besides helping in disaster management.
- It also carries two Solid State Recorders with a capacity of 200 Giga Bits. Each of it can store the images taken by its cameras which can be read out later to ground stations.
About PSLV
The PSLV rocket is a four stage/engine indigenous light-lifting rocket powered by solid and liquid fuel alternatively. It has emerged as the workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO offered for launching satellites for international customers. Between 1994 and 2016, the PSLV has launched a total of 121 satellites, of which 42 are Indian satellites and 79 satellites are from abroad. The PSLV-XL variant of the rocket is 44.4 metres tall and weighs 3201 tonnes.
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Month: Current Affairs - December, 2016