Short Note: CARTOSAT -2E Satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched Cartosat-2 series satellite with the help of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C38).
Cartosat-2E
- Cartosat-2 series satellite is an earth observation satellite. This will be the sixth satellite launch in catosat-2 series.
- The satellite offers high-resolution scene-specific spot imagery.
- The satellite weighing 714 kg was launched along with 30 co-passenger satellites weighing about 243 kg. It was PSLV’s 40th flight launching into space carrying a payload of 955 kg.
- The 30 co-passenger satellites included a nano-satellite from India and 29 other Nanosatellites from 14 countries, namely, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Significance
Cartosat-2E has a panchromatic (PAN) camera for capturing black and white pictures of the earth in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The satellite can be steered up to 45 degrees. The pictures taken by the satellite will be helpful in rural and urban spot applications as well as to identify coastal land use and regulations. It will also go a long way in monitoring the road network and water distribution, creation of land use maps, and various other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.
Earlier India used to spend Rs 2 crores a year for purchasing pictures from Ikonos which offered pictures of 80 cm in resolution. Meanwhile, the Cartosat 2 series satellites are capable of taking better pictures of 100cm resolution.
The Cartosat-2 series satellites are extremely agile and can give a major boost to defence surveillance as it capable of even spotting bunkers used by the terrorists.
History of Cartosat-2 series
- The first satellite, Cartosat-2 was launched by PSLV-C7 on 10 January 2007. Its main application is cartography.
- Cartosat-2A was launched by PSLV-C9 on 28 April 2008. It was dedicated to the Indian Armed Forces to establish an Aerospace Command.
- Cartosat 2B was launched by PSLV-C15 on 12 July 2010.
- Cartosat 2C was launched on June 22, 2016. It has the potential to record weather mapping.
- Cartosat-2D was launched by PSLV-C37 on 15 February 2017.
