An ISRO official has confirmed what I had surmised in an earlier post - that RISAT 2 is an off the shelf Israeli TecSAR acquired for surveillance. Photo Credit: IAIApril 08, 2009, (Sawf News) - An ISRO official has confirmed what I had surmised in an earlier post - that RISAT 2 is an off the shelf Israeli TecSAR acquired for surveillance.
The launch of the 300 kg satellite, earlier scheduled for the first week of April, has now been set for April 20.
RISAT 2 will be launched along with a 38 kg mini communication satellite, Anusat, built by Anna University, Chennai, atop a PSLV-C12, a core alone version of the launcher.
On January 21, 2008, India launched a TecSAR satellite with an X-Band synthetic aperture radar for Israel atop the PSLV-C10, a core alone version of the PSLV (PSLV-CA).
"When we launched the Israeli (TecSAR) satellite, we found that it's a good satellite. Then we asked them to build one for us. It can penetrate through the clouds and take pictures even at night," an ISRO official told PTI.
"It will be primarily used for defence and surveillance. The satellite also has good application in the area of disaster management and in managing cyclones, floods and agriculture-related activities," he added.
Click here for additional details on the TecSAR
Here is a promotional video on the satellite released by IAI
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