ISRO to launch new imaging satellite HysIS on Thursday

ISRO to launch new imaging satellite HysIS on Thursday

News:

1. ISRO’s workhorse rocket PSLV-C43 will carry India’s earth observation satellite HysIS and 30 co-passenger satellites, including 23 from the US, from Sriharikota on November 29.

Important Facts:

2. About the launch:

• HysIS, the country’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite for advanced Earth observation will be launched from Sriharikota.
• It is the primary satellite of the PSLV-C43 mission.
• The satellite will be placed in 636 km polar sun synchronous orbit (SSO) with mission life of five years.
• The co-passengers of HysIS include one micro and 29 nano satellites from eight different countries, the agency said, adding, all these satellites will be placed in a 504 km orbit by PSLV-C43.
• The countries comprise United States of America (23 satellites), Australia, Canada, Columbia, Finland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Spain (one satellite each).
• HysIS will be the third longest mission of PSLV.
• The longest mission, C-40 in 2018, lasted two hours and 21 minutes and put 31 satellites to orbit.
• In September 2016 and C-35 lifted eight satellites in a flight lasting two hours and 15 minutes.

3. Significance of the launch:

• The technology will be an added advantage of watching over India from space for a variety of purposes such as defence, agriculture, land use, minerals and so on.
• It can also be highly useful in marking out a suspect object or person and separate it from the background which could aid in detecting transborder or other stealthy movements.

4. About hyperspectral imaging camera (HysIS)

• The primary goal of HysIS is to study the Earth’s surface in visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• HysIs in space can provide well-defined images that can help to identify objects on Earth far more clearly than regular optical or remote sensing cameras.

5. Background:

• In 2008, a small 83-kg demonstration microsatellite called IMS-1 (Indian Mini Satellite-1) was launched as a secondary passenger with Cartosat-2A.
• In the same year, it put a HysSI or Hyperspectral Imager on the first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 and used it to scan Moon’s surface for minerals.

6. About PSLV:

• PSLV is ISRO’s third generation launch vehicle and is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages and engines.
• It can carry upto 1,750 kg of payload into polar SSO of 600 km altitude.
• Additionally, PSLV has been used to launch planetary missions and also satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.