ISRO set for launch of RESOURCESAT-2A tomorrow

PSLV-C36/ RESOURCESAT-2A will blast off at 10:25 hours from SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

Bengaluru, Dec 6: The Indian Space Research Organisation will tomorrow launch Remote Sensing satellite, RESOURCESAT-2A using its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

PSLV-C36/ RESOURCESAT-2A will blast off at 10:25 hours from SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The satellite was earlier planned for launch on November 28.

"Things are going on as planned for tomorrow's launch," a senior ISRO official said. ISRO, which began a 36-hour countdown last night, today said Mono Methyl Hydrazine (MMH) fuel and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen (MON-3) oxidiser filling operations of the fourth stage (PS4) of PSLV-C36 are completed.

PSLV-C36, the 38th flight of PSLV, will place the 1,235-kg RESOURCESAT-2A into an 817-km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

In this flight, the 'XL' version of PSLV with six solid strap-on motors is used. RESOURCESAT-2A, a Remote Sensing satellite intended for resource monitoring, is a follow on mission to RESOURCESAT-1 and RESOURCESAT-2, launched in 2003 and 2011 respectively.

It is intended to continue the remote sensing data services to global users provided by RESOURCESAT-1 and 2. RESOURCESAT-2A carries three payloads which are similar to those of RESOURCESAT-1 and 2.

They include a high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS-4) camera operating in three spectral bands in the Visible and Near Infrared Region (VNIR), medium resolution LISS-3 camera operating in three-spectral bands in VNIR and one in Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) band, and coarse resolution Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) camera operating in three spectral bands in VNIR and one band in SWIR, with specified spatial resolutions, ISRO said.

RESOURCESAT-2A also carries two Solid State Recorders with a capacity of 200 Giga Bits each to store the images taken by its cameras which can be read out later to ground stations, it added. The spacecraft mass is around 1,200 kg with a power generation capacity of 1,250 W and a mission life of five years.

PTI