Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
INDIAN REMOTE SENSING
Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS) are a series of Earth Observation satellites, built,
launched and maintained by Indian Space Research Organisation. The IRS series provides
many remote sensing services to India.
Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite system was commissioned with the launch of IRS-
1A, in 1988. With twelve satellites in operation, IRS is the largest civilian remote sensing
satellite constellation in the world providing imageries in a variety of spatial resolutions,
spectral bands and swaths. The data is used for several applications covering agriculture,
water resources, urban development, mineral prospecting, environment, forestry,
drought and flood forecasting, ocean resources and disaster management.
Following are the list of remote sensing satellite launched by ISRO:-
1) IRS-1A Launch Date: March 17, 1988
IRS-1A, the first of the series of indigenous
state-of-art remote sensing satellites, was
successfully launched into a polar sun-
synchronous orbit on March 17, 1988 from the
Soviet Cosmodrome at Baikonur. IRS-1A carries
two cameras, LISS-I and LISS-II with resolutions of
73 metres and 36.25 metres respectively with a
swath width of about 140 km during each pass
over the country.
IRS-1A Specification
Mission Operational Remote Sensing
Weight 975 kg
Onboard power 600 Watts
Communication S-band, X-band and VHF(commanding
only)
Stabilization Three axis body stabilized (zero
momentum)
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
with 4 Reactions Wheels, Magnetic
torquers
RCS
Monopropellant Hydrazine based with
sixteen
1 Newton thrusters
Payload
Three solid state Push Broom Cameras:
LISS-1(72.5 metre resolution),
LISS-2A and
LISS-2B (36.25 metre resolution)
Launch date March 17, 1988
Launch site Baikanur Cosmodrome Kazakhstan
Launch vehicle Vostok
Orbit 904 km Polar Sun-synchronous
Inclination 99.08o
Repetivity 22 days (307 orbits)
Local time 10.30 a.m. (descending node)
Mission completed
during July 1996
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
2) IRS-1B Launch Date: 29.08.1991
Improved features compared to its predecessor: gyro referencing for better
orientation sensing, time tagged commanding
(IRS-1A) facility for more flexilibility in camera
operation and line count information for better
data product generation.
Mission completed on December 20, 2003 after
serving for 12 years and 4 months.
IRS-1B Specification
Mission Operational Remote Sensing
Weight 975 kg
Onboard power 600 Watts
Communication S-band, X-band and VHF (commanding only)
Stabilization
Three axis body stabilized (zero momentum)
with
4 Reactions Wheels, Magnetic torquers
RCS
Monopropellant Hydrazine based with
sixteen
1 Newton thrusters
Payload
Three solid state Push Broom Cameras LlSS-1
(72.5 metre resolution), LlSS-2A and
LlSS-2B (36.25 metre resolution)
Launch date August 29, 1991
Launch site Baikanur Cosmodrome Kazakhstan
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Launch vehicle Vostok
Orbit 904 km Polar Sun Synchronous
Inclination 99.08o
Repetivity 22 days
Local time 10.30 a.m. (descending node)
Mission Completed On December 20, 2003
3) IRS-1C Launch Date: 28.12.1995
IRS-1C is India's second generation operational Remote
Sensing Satellite. The satellite carries Payloads with
enhanced capabilities like better Spatial resolution
additional spectral band, improved repeitivity and
augment the Remote Sensing capability of the existing
IRS-1A and IRS-1B.
Mission completed on September 21, 2007 after serving
for 11 years and 8 months.
IRS-1C Specification
Mission Operational Remote Sensing
Weight 1250 kg
onboard power 809 Watts (generated by 9.6 sq.metres
Solar Panels)
Communication S-band, X-band
Stabilization Three axis body stabilized (zero momentum)
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
with
4 Reaction Wheels, Magnetic torquer
RCS
Monopropellant Hydrazine based with
sixteen
1 N thrusters & one 11N thrusters
Payload
Three solid state Push Broom Cameras:
PAN (<6 metre solution )LlSS-3(23.6 metre
resolution) and WiFS (189 metre resolution)
Onboard tape recorder Storage Capacity : 62 G bits
Launch date December 28, 1995
Launch site Baikanur Cosmodrome Kazakhstan
Launch vehicle Molniya
Orbit 817 km Polar Sun-synchronous
Inclination 98.69o
Repetivity 24 days
Local time 10.30 a.m
Mission completed on September 21, 2007
4) IRS-P3 Launch Date: 21.03.1996
IRS-P3 was launched by PSLV-D3 on March 21, 1996
from SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India. IRS-P3 carries
two remote sensing payloads - Wide Field Sensor
(WiFS) similar to that of IRS-1C, with an additional
Short Wave Infrared Band (SWIR) and a Modular
Opto-electronic Scanner (MOS). It also carries an
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
X-ray astronomy payload and a C-band transponder for radar calibration.
Mission completed during January 2006 after serving 9 years and 10 months.
IRS-P3 Specification
Mission
Remote sensing of earth's natural resources. Study of X-ray
Astronomy. Periodic calibration of PSLV tracking radar
located at tracking stations.
Weight 920 kg
onboard power 817 Watts
Communication S-band
Stabilization Three axis body stabilized
RCS Combinations of bladder type and surface tension type
mass expulsion monopropellant hydrazine system
Payload
WideField Sensor (WiFS), Modular Opto - electronic Scanner
(MOS),
Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment (IXAE),
C-band transponder(CBT)
Launch date March 21, 1996
Launch site SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India
Launch vehicle PSLV-D3
Orbit 817 km. Circular polar sun-synchronous with
equatorial crossing at 10.30 am (descending node)
Inclination 98.68o
Repetivity WiFS : 5 days
Mission
completed during January 2006
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
5) IRS-1D Launch Date: 27.09.1997
IRS – 1D was launched on September 27, 1997 by
PSLV – C1. IRS – 1D, a follow on satellite to IRS – 1C
belongs to the second generation of IRS series of
Sat ellites. It has 3 payloads viz., PAN, LISS 3 &
WiFS.
It has similar capabilities as IRC – 1C in terms of
spatial resolution, spectral bands, stereoscopic
imaging, wide field coverage and revisit capability.
The improvements carried out in the IRS – 1D
satellite taking into account the
IRS – 1C experiences have resulted in better quality
imageries.
Mission completed during January 2010 after serving for 12 years and 3 months.
IRS-1D Specification
Mission Operational Remote Sensing
Weight 1250kg
onboard power 809 Watts (generated by 9.6 sq.metres
Solar Panels)
Communication S-band, X-band
Stabilization Three axis body stabilized (zero momentum)
with 4 Reaction Wheels, Magnetic torquer
RCS Monopropellant Hydrazine based with sixteen
1 Newton thrusters & one 11 N thrusters
Payload
Three solid state Push Broom Cameras:
PAN (6 metre solution )
LlSS-3 (23.6 metre resolution) and
WiFS (189 metre resolution)
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Onboard tape recorder Storage Capacity : 62 G bits
Launch date 27 September 1997
Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India
Launch vehicle PSLV-C1
Orbit (nomial) 817 km Polar Sun-synchronous
Achieved orbit 740 x 817 km
Inclination 98.6 o
Local time 10.30 a.m. (descending node)
Mission completed on January 2010
6) IRS-P4/ OCEANSAT Launch Date: 26.05.1999
IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT) is the first satellite primarily built for Ocean applications,
weighing 1050 kg placed in a Polar Sun
Synchronous orbit of 720 km, launched by PSLV-C2
from SHAR Centre, Sriharikota on May 26, 1999.
This satellite carries Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM)
and a Multi - frequency Scanning Microwave
Radiometer (MSMR) for oceanographic studies.
IRS-P4 thus vastly augment the IRS satellite system
of ISRO comprising four satellites, IRS-1B, IRS-1C,
IRS-P3 and IRS-1D and extend remote sensing
applications to several newer areas.
Mission completed on August 8, 2010 after serving for 11 years and 2 months.
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
IRS-1D Specification
Launch date May 26, 1999
Launch site SHAR, Sriharikota
Launch vehicle PSLV - C2
Orbit Polar Sun Synchronous
Altitude 720 km
Inclination 98.28 deg
Period 99.31 min
Local time of Eq. crossing 12 noon
Repetitivity cycle 2 days
Size 2.8m x 1.98m x 2.57m
Mass at lift off 1050 kg
Length when fully deployed 11.67 m
Attitude and Orbit Control 3-axis body-stabilised using Reaction Wheels,
Magnetic Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
Power 9.6 Sq.m Solar Array generating 750w Two 21 Ah
Ni-Cd Battries
Mission Completed On August 8, 2010
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
7) IRS-P6/Resourcesat-1 Launch Date: 17.10.2003
RESOURCESAT-1 is the tenth satellite of ISRO in IRS
series, intended to not only continue the remote
sensing data services provided by IRS-1C and IRS-1D,
both of which have far outlived their designed mission
lives, but also to vastly enhance the data quality.
RESOURCESAT-1 is the most advanced Remote
Sensing Satellite built by ISRO as of 2003.
IRS-P6 Specification
Launch date October 17, 2003
Launch site SHAR, Sriharikota
Launch vehicle PSLV-C5
Payloads LISS-4, LISS-3, AWiFS-A, AWiFS-B
Orbit Polar Sun Synchronous
Orbit height 817 km
Orbit inclination 98.7o
Orbit period 101.35 min
Number of Orbits Per day 14
Local time of equator crossing 10:30 am
Repetivity (LISS-3) 24 days
Revisit 5 days
Lift-Off mass 1360 kg
Attitude and orbit control 3-axis body stabilised using Reaction Wheels,
Magnetic Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Power Solar Array generating 1250 W, Two 24 Ah
Ni-Cd batteries
Mission Life 5 years
8) CARTOSAT-1 Launch Date: 05.05.2005
CARTOSAT – 1 is the first Indian Remote Sensing
Satellite capable of providing in-orbit stereo images.
The images are used for Cartographic applications
meeting the global requirements. Cameras of this
satellite have a resolution of 2.5m (can distinguish a
small car).
The Cartosat – 1 provides stereo pairs required for
generating Digital Elevation Models, Ortho Image
products, and Value added products for various
applications of Geographical Information System (GIS).
CARTOSAT-1 Specification
Launch date 5 May 2005
Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C6
Orbit 618 km Polar Sun Synchronous
Payloads PAN FORE, PAN - AFT
Orbit Period 97 min
Number of Orbits Per day 14
Local time of equator crossing 10:30 am
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Repetivity 126 days
Revisit 5 days
Lift-Off mass 1560 kg
Attitude and orbit control 3-axis body stabillised using reaction wheels,
Magnetic Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
Electrical power 15 sqm Solar Array generating 1100w,
Two 24 Ah Ni-Cd batteries
Mission life 5 years
9) CARTOSAT-2 Launch Date: 10.01.2007
The 680 kg CARTOSAT-2, launched by PSLV-C7 on
January 10,2007 is the twelfth in the Indian Remote
Sensing.
CARTOSAT-2 Specification
Mission Remote Sensing
Weight 650 Kg
Onboard Orbit 900 Watts
Stabilization
3 - axis body stabilised using high torque
reaction wheels, magnetic torquers and
thrusters
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Payloads Panchromatic Camera
Launch date 10 January 2007
Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C7
Orbit Polar Sun Synchronous
Mission life 5 years
10) CARTOSAT-2A Launch Date: 28.04.2008
CARTOSAT – 2A is the thirteenth satellite in the
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite series (IRS). It is a
sophisticated and rugged remote sensing satellite
that can provide scene specific spot imagery. This
satellite carries a Panchromatic Camera (PAN). The
spatial resolution of this camera is better than 1m
and swath of 9.6 km. Imageries from this satellite are
used for cartographic applications like mapping,
urban and rural infrastructure development and
management, as well as application in Land
Information (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS).
CARTOSAT-2A Specification
Mission Remote Sensing
Weight 690 Kg (Mass at lift off)
Onboard Power 900 Watts
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Stabilization
3 – axis body stabilised using high torque
reaction wheels, magnetic torquers and
hydrogen thrusters
Payloads Panchromatic Camera
Launch date 28 April 2008
Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C9
Orbit 635 kms, Polar Sun Synchronous
Inclination 97.94 deg
Mission life 5 years
11) RISAT-2 Launch Date: 20.04.2009
RISAT-2 is a Radar Imaging Satellite with all weather capability to take images of
the earth. This Satellite will enhance ISRO's capability for
Disaster Management applications.
RISAT-2 Specification
Altitude 550 km
Inclination 41 deg
Orbit Period 90 minutes
Mass 300 kg
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
12) OCEANSAT-2 Launch Date: 23.09.2009
Oceansat-2 satellite mainframe systems derive their heritage from previous IRS
missions and launched by PSLV-C14 from Satish
Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on Sept. 23, 2009. It
carries three payloads:
• Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM)
• Ku-band Pencil Beam scatterometer (SCAT)
developed by ISRO
• Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmosphere
(ROSA) developed by the Italian Space Agency.
Oceansat-2 is envisaged to provide continuity of operational services of
Oceansat-1(IRS-P4) with enhanced application potential.
OCEANSAT-2 Specification
Launch date Sept 23, 2009
Launch site SHAR, Sriharikota
Launch vehicle PSLV - C14
Orbit Polar Sun Synchronous
Altitude 720 km
Inclination 98.28°
Period 99.31 minutes
Local time of Eq. crossing 12 noon ± 10 minutes
Repetitivity cycle 2 days
Payloads OCM, SCAT and ROSA
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Mass at lift off 960 kg
Power 15 Sq.m Solar panels generating 1360W, Two 24
Ah Ni-Cd Battries
Mission Life 5 years
13) CARTOSAT-2B Launch Date: 12.07.2010
CARTOSAT - 2B is the seventeenth satellite in the Indian
Remote Sensing Satellite series (IRS). CARTOSAT-2B carries a
Panchromatic camera (PAN) similar to those of its
predecessors - CARTOSAT-2 and 2A. It is capable of imaging a
swath (geographical strip) of 9.6 km with a resolution of
better than 1 metre. The scene specific spot imagery sent by
CARTOSAT-2B's PAN will be useful for cartographic and a
host of other applications. The highly agile CARTOSAT-2B is
steerable up to ± 26o along as well as across track to obtain
stereoscopic imagery and achieve a four to five day revisit
capability.
CARTOSATSAT-2B Specification
Mission Remote Sensing
Weight 694 kg (Mass at lift off)
Onboard Orbit 930 Watts
Stabilization
3 – axis body stabilised based on inputs from star
sensors and gyros using Reaction wheels, Magnetic
Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
Payloads Panchromatic Camera
Launch date July 12, 2010
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C15
Orbit 630 kms, Polar Sun Synchronous
Inclination 97.71º
14) RESOURCESAT-2 Launch Date: 20.04.2011
RESOURCESAT-2 is a follow on mission to RESOURCESAT-1
and the eighteenth Remote Sensing satellite built by ISRO.
RESOURCESAT-2 is intended to continue the remote sensing
data services to global users provided by RESOURCESAT-1,
and to provide data with enhanced multispectral and spatial
coverage as well.
Important changes in RESOURCESAT-2 compared to
RESOURCESAT-1 are: Enhancement of LISS-4 multispectral
swath from 23 km to 70 km and improved Radiometric
accuracy from 7 bits to 10 bits for LISS-3 and LISS-4 and 10
bits to 12 bits for AWIFS. Besides, suitable changes,
including miniaturisation in payload electronics, have been
made in RESOURCESAT-2.
RESOURCESAT-2 also carries an additional payload known as AIS (Automatic
Identification System) from COMDEV, Canada as an experimental payload for ship
surveillance in VHF band to derive position, speed and other information about
ships.
RESOURCESAT-2 carries two Solid State Recorders with a capacity of 200 Giga Bytes
each to store the images taken by its cameras which can be read out later to
ground stations.
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
RESOURCESAT-2 Specification
Mission Remote Sensing
Orbit Circular Polar Sun Synchronous
Orbit altitude at injection 822 km + 20 km (3 Sigma)
Orbit Inclination 98.731º + 0.2º
Lift-off Mass 1206 kg
Orbit Period 101.35 min
Number of Orbits per day 14
Local Time of Equator
crossing 10:30 am
Repetivity 24 days
Attitude and Orbit Control 3-axis body stabilised using Reaction Wheels,
Magnetic Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
Power Solar Array generating 1250 W at End Of Life,
two 24 AH Ni-Cd batteries
Launch date April 20, 2011
Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C16
Mission life 5 years
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
15) MEGHA- TROPIQUES Launch Date: 12.10.2011
Megha-Tropiques is an Indo-French Joint Satellite Mission for studying the water
cycle and energy exchanges in the tropics. The main objective of this mission is to
understand the life cycle of convective systems that influence the tropical weather
and climate and their role in associated energy
and moisture budget of the atmosphere in
tropical regions.
Megha-Tropiques will provide scientific data on
the contribution of the water cycle to the
tropical atmosphere, with information on
condensed water in clouds, water vapour in the atmosphere, precipitation, and
evaporation. With its circular orbit inclined 20 deg to the equator, the Megha-
Tropiques is a unique satellite for climate research that should also aid scientists
seeking to refine prediction models.
Megha-Tropiques carries the following four payloads:
• Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures
(MADRAS), an Imaging Radiometer developed jointly by CNES and ISRO
• Sounder for Probing Vertical Profiles of Humidity (SAPHIR), from CNES
• Scanner for Radiation Budget (ScaRaB), from CNES
• Radio Occultation Sensor for Vertical Profiling of Temperature and
Humidity (ROSA), procured from Italy
Megha-Tropiques Specification
Lift-off Mass 1000 kg
Orbit 867 km with an inclination of 20 deg to the equator
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
Thermal Passive system with IRS heritage
Power 1325 W (at End of Life)
Two 24 AH NiCd batteries
TTC S-band
Attitude and Orbit
Control
3-axis stabilised with 4 Reaction Wheels, Gyros and Star
sensors, Hydrazine based RCS
Solid State Recorder 16 Gb
Launch date October 12, 2011
Launch site SDSC SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C18
16) RISAT-1 Launch Date: 26.04.2012
Radar Satellite-1 (RISAT-1) is a state of the art Microwave Remote Sensing Satellite
carrying a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Payload operating in C-band (5.35 GHz),
which enables imaging of the surface features during both day and night under all
weather conditions.
Application
Active Microwave Remote Sensing provides cloud
penetration and day-night imaging capability. These
unique characteristics of C-band (5.35GHz) Synthetic
Aperture Radar enable applications in agriculture,
particularly paddy monitoring in kharif season and
management of natural disasters like flood and
cyclone.
Satellite and Their Specification
Sumant Diwakar
RISAT-1 Specification
Lift-off Mass 1858 kg
Orbit Circular Polar Sun Synchronous
Orbit Altitude 536 km
Orbit Inclination 97.552o
Orbit Period 95.49 min
Number of Orbits per
day 14
Local Time of
Equator Crossing 6:00 am / 6:00 pm
Power Solar Array generating 2200 W and one 70
AH Ni-H2 battery
Repetivity 25 days
Attitude and Orbit
Control
3-axis body stabilised using Reaction Wheels,
Magnetic Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
Nominal Mission Life 5 years
Launch date April 26, 2012
Launch site SDSC SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India
Launch vehicle PSLV- C19