On 10 December at 4.40 pm, ISRO began a 24-hour countdown for the launch of India’s radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1 onboard PLSV-C48 from its spaceport of Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh. The ISRO also announced that the fuel filling process for the second stage of PSLV-C48 has commenced.
ISRO to Launch Border Surveillance Satellite RISAT-2BR1
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that on its 50th mission, the workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C48, is scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, about 130 km at 3.25pm on Wednesday.
ISRO will be live streaming the launch event on its official YouTube channel. The webcast link will go live at 3 pm IST today.
The launch will mark a significant milestone for the space agency as it would be the 50th flight of the PSLV and also the 75th vehicle mission from Sriharikota. These satellites will help in round the clock border surveillance by looking at terror camps across the border. The 628 kg satellite that is meant for applications in various fields like agriculture, forestry, and disaster management support will carry nine customer satellites, including one each from Israel, Italy, Japan and six from the United States. The RISAT satellites are equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that can take pictures of the earth during day and night, and also under cloudy conditions.
The space agency said the satellites are being launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Ltd. ISRO also said that the mission life of RISAT2-BR1 is five years.
RISAT-2BR1 follows the successful launch of RISAT-2B on 22 May.
