Guwahati News Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is swinging back into full action, planning to launch the geo imaging satellite on August 12.
An ISRO official informed on Saturday that, “We have tentatively planned the GSLV-F10 launch on August 12, at 05.43 am, subject to weather conditions.”
Prior to this, the launch was scheduled for 28th March, 2021, but for a “minor issue” with the satellite it had to be postponed. The launch was later expected to be in April and then again in May. However, due to the Covid-19- induced lockdowns, triggered by the second wave of the pandemic, the launch once again was delayed.
According to other sources, the 2,268-kg GISAT-1 was originally slated to be launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100 km north of Chennai, on 5th March last year, but was postponed a day before the blast-off due to technical reasons.
Currently, the orbiting of geo imaging satellite GISAT-1 onboard GSLV-F10 rocket is being planned at the Sriharikota spaceport.
According to ISRO, GISAT-1 will facilitate near real- time observation of the Indian sub-continent, under cloud-free conditions, at frequent intervals and will be placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10 and subsequently, it will be positioned in the final geostationary orbit, about 36,000 km above earth’s equator, using its on board propulsion system.
As stated by an official on the decision, “With onboard high-resolution cameras, the satellite will allow the country to monitor the Indian landmass and the oceans, particularly its borders, continuously.”
The official added that the earth observation satellite will provide India with near real-time images of its borders and will also enable quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic and any short-term events.
According to another official from the Department of Space , “It’s going to be a game-changer in some sense for India.”
Photo | Representative Image/ISRO
