ISRO successfully launches RISAT-2B

May 22, 2019 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

Indian space agency ISRO successfully launched earth observation satellite RISAT-2B (Radar Imaging Satellite-2B) today morning in the early hours. This satellite would help improve the surveillance of the country.

The 25-hour countdown for the launch of satellite began on Tuesday. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C46) blasted off at 5:30 a.m. to carry this satellite today successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It was launched from the first launch pad and marked the 36th launch from this launch pad.

It is the 48th mission of ISRO. The RISAT-2B weighs 615 kg. This satellite was released into the orbit nearly 15 minutes after the lift-off.

The RISAT-2B would enhance support in the fields of India’s surveillance, agriculture, forestry and disaster management.

It is likely to replace the RISAT-2 that was successfully launched in 2009.

The RISAT-1 is a microwave remote sensing satellite. It was launched by ISRO on April 26, 2012, from Sriharikota.

The RISAT-1 is used to observe activities in camps in the border to prevent infiltration bids by terrorists.

ISRO’s Chairman said this mission is very important for the country. The RISAT-2B has hi-fi earth observation and it is an excellent satellite.

The mission’s life is five years. It can also be used for military surveillance. The satellite has a synthetic aperture radar to capture the pictures of the earth throughout the day, and even under cloudy conditions.

Today’s launch of the PSLV is the third launch in 2019.

The PSLV-C44 is the first launch in this year. The Microsat-R and the Kalamsat-V2 satellites were placed in designated orbits on January 24 under this. And the second is PSLV-C45/EMISAT mission. It introduced the EMISAT and 29 international customer satellites into their orbits on April 1.

Image credit: Image by SpaceX-Imagery from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)