Indian Spy Satellites

[Chanakyaa]

Indian Advancements in Space are Simply Awesome.
Though Primarily aimed at Civilan Use, The Expertise in Satellite Production has made India stand in an elite group having "Spy Satellites".

I am Listing Them here :



1. TES : Technology Experiment Satellite

Technology Experiment Satellite or (TES) is an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). TES weighs 1108 kg and was successfully placed in 568 km sun synchronous orbit on October 22, 2001 using the PSLV-C3 version of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. PSLV-C3 also injected two more satellites: PROBA , a Belgian satellite and BIRD,a German satellite.

The technologies demonstrated in TES are attitude and orbit control system, high torque reaction wheels, new reaction control system with optimized thrusters and a single propellant tank, light weight spacecraft structure, solid state recorder, X-band phased array antenna, improved satellite positioning system, miniaturized TTC and power system and, two-mirror-on-axis camera optics.

The Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) has a pan chromatic camera for remote sensing. The camera is which is capable of producing images of 1 Meter resolution. 1 m resolution means the camera is able to distinguish between two objects which are separated at least a meter.

The launch of TES made India the second country in the world after the United States that can commercially offer images with one meter resolution.[2] It is used for remote sensing of civilian areas, mapping industry and geographical information services.

2. CARTOSAT 1 :

This is NOT a Dedicated spy satellite, yet offers Images of very high Quality for Military applications.

CARTOSAT 1 is a stereoscopic Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite was built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Weighing around 1560 kg at launch, its applications will mainly be towards cartography in India. It was launched by the PSLV on 5 May 2005 from the newly built second launch pad at Sriharikota. Images from the satellite will be available from GeoEye for worldwide distribution.

CARTOSAT-1 carries two state-of-the-art panchromatic (PAN) cameras that take black and white stereoscopic pictures of the earth in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The swath covered by these high resolution PAN cameras is 30 km and their spatial resolution is 2.5 metres.

The cameras are mounted on the satellite in such a way that near simultaneous imaging of the same area from two different angles is possible. This facilitates the generation of accurate three-dimensional maps. The cameras are steerable across the direction of the satellite's movement to facilitate the imaging of an area more frequently. The images taken by CARTOSAT-1 cameras are compressed, encrypted, formatted and transmitted to the ground stations. The images are reconstructed from the data received at the ground stations.

3. CARTOSAT 2A

CARTOSAT 2A is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is the thirteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series to be built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle - C9 on April 28, 2008 along with the 87 kg Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) and eight nano research satellites belonging to research facilities in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands [2].

This satellite is a Ministry of Defence mission for the Government of India.[3]The designation of the satellite could be presumed to be its similarity with its civilian name sake launched on January 10, 2007. It is be a dedicated satellite for the Indian Armed Forces which is in the process of establishing an Aerospace Command.[4]

4. CATROSAT 2

CARTOSAT-2 is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite was built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Weighing around 680 kg at launch, its applications will mainly be towards cartography in India. It was launched by the PSLV on January 10, 2007.

CARTOSAT-2 carries a state-of-the-art panchromatic (PAN) camera that take black and white pictures of the earth in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The swath covered by these high resolution PAN cameras is 9.6 km and their spatial resolution is less than 1 metre. The satellite can be steered up to 45 degrees along as well as across the track.

CARTOSAT-2 is an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery. The data from the satellite will be used for detailed mapping and other cartographic applications at cadastral level, urban and rural infrastructure development and management, as well as applications in Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS).

5. Indo-Israeli - RISAT

The Indian imaging radar reconnaissance satellite made by IAI is uprated version of this first TecSar spacecraft operated by Israel. Note composite ribs and gold mesh of a 15-foot-diameter antenna that provides 1-meter night/all weather imaging (Indian Space Research Organization)

The spacecraft’s 15-foot diameter dish radar antenna will be able to see through the thickest clouds and rain, snow or fog conditions during night or day to provide the Indian Army with 1-meter resolution images. It can also “see” through camouflage like cloth or foliage used to conceal camps or vehicles.

Officials at Lockheed Martin tell Spaceflight Now that the satellite will give India a radar reconnaissance imaging capability comparable to the imaging radars carried by the most modern versions of the high-flying U-2 spy plane operated by the U.S. Air Force.

The 660-pound RISAT 2 spacecraft is to be launched April 20 on board an Indian Space Research Organization Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, fired from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 6:45 a.m. local time, or 0115 GMT.

The mission is part of an expanding Indian military space program driven by serious concerns over monitoring Pakistan and terrorist groups like Al Qaeda.

The radar satellite will add to the more traditional visual imaging intelligence capability India already has. The country last year launched its first fairly high resolution reconnaissance satellite, but has operated medium and low resolution remote sensing spacecraft for years. Those spacecraft, however, can not see through clouds or at night.

The new RISAT spacecraft is being placed in a 342-mile-high orbit, along with a small microsatellite to be used for imaging educational purposes.

The new spacecraft was built by Israeli Aircraft Industries MBT Space subsidiary. The radar was developed by its Elta subsidiary.

The satellite will monitor the hundreds of mountain valleys that connect India with Pakistan and terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan further north. It should also help keep track of ships at sea that could pose a threat.

The satellite is an upgraded version of Israel’s TecSAR synthetic aperture radar satellite. Space-based radars are especially good for monitoring rocky mountain valleys for infiltrating vehicles that show up well in radar imagery.

The project also illustrates the growing military space ties between India and Israel, which can build highly capable spacecraft but lacks the kind of booster power India has to launch them. Within the last year, India launched the TecSAR radar satellite for Israel and is likely sharing its data downlink and change detection software capability.

Future Aspects ::

1. A Dedicated Military Spy satellite is due to be launched in 2012-2014

2. The CARTOSAT 3 is also to be Launched soon.

The Mammoth List of all Indian satellites :: List of Indian satellites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Chanakyaa]

High quality imageries acquired from Cartosat-2A and Indian Mini Satellite-1 (IMS-1) were presented to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today (May 5, 2008) at Delhi by Dr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO along with a team of senior scientists. It may be recalled that Cartosat-2A and IMS-1 were successfully launched by PSLV-C9 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota on April 28, 2008. The cameras on board Cartosat-2A and IMS-1 were turned on subsequently and the imageries have been acquired over India and many parts of the globe.

 

[Chanakyaa]

The Launch Vehicle ::

 

[Draft]

Yaar Xinix what happened to you today? Bahut khush lag rahe ho....first the SAM's thread and now this....and the titles are amazing too.....
Anyways thanks for the pics....keep up the good work....waiting for more pics

 

[Chanakyaa]

Yaar Xinix what happened to you today? Bahut khush lag rahe ho....first the SAM's thread and now this....and the titles are amazing too.....
Anyways thanks for the pics....keep up the good work....waiting for more pics

Well.. I am Just Trying to say : "Chak De India"
LOL..

Thanks for the Great Appreciation.

 

[desiman]

Nice threads mate, keep up the great work

 

[RobbieS]

Good work Xinix, bro. Just hope we can put the info from these spy/military satellites to good use when it matters.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Good work Xinix, bro. Just hope we can put the info from these spy/military satellites to good use when it matters.

These are Noting Compared to what They actually Have.
in 2003 a scientist at a Science fare in my city Told .. Indian spy satellites can tell the "colour of ur Tea"


Jai Ho !!

 

[gubbi]

Indian spy satellites can tell the "colour of ur Tea"


Jai Ho !!

True. I heard that one too.

 

[Iggy]

.. Indian spy satellites can tell the "colour of ur Tea"

Well whats the need of a satellite for telling the color of the tea ..I can do it easily

sorry couldnt help it dont bash me

 

[Chanakyaa]

Ha ha.. U have a point seiko...

but TRAUST ME General Singh can see 'Kayani's TEA' 24X7 IS NOT A JOKE FOR PAKISTAN !

 

[Donatello]

Pictures speak for themselves!

Nice job, though Google earth has pretty much every airbase in Pakistan/India covered as well. LoL.


It would be cool if India could home in on the terrorist entering through sea, catch a video like in movies, yikes!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[s6demon]

bharat-rakshak, i loled.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Dear s6demon,

Thank you for Bumping the thread.

Regards.

 

[Mirza Jatt]

@xinix- really nice job brother.

No doubt India has lot more than the world actually knows.

just a thought - why arent we using these to track the militants in the border areas?? or are we already doing it??....just curious.