India has built an advanced remote sensing satellite with military and other applications and its launch is expected in the next few weeks onboard a home-grown rocket, with an Israeli spacecraft as its likely co-passenger.
Israeli space capabilities will take a giant leap this week when an Indian missile launches the IDF's most-advanced satellite to date, capable of transmitting tiny images in all weather conditions. The takeoff from India follows June launch of the Ofek-7 spy satellite. The satellite to be placed in orbit this week is called Tecsar and was developed and manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries. It will be the first Israeli satellite with Synthetic Aperture Radar capabilities, allowing the camera to take pictures of targets under cloudy and foggy conditions, a capability not available in Israel's Ofek satellite series.
An Indian rocket may lift an Israeli spy satellite into orbit within days in the second deal to grab a share of the 2.5-billion-dollar global launch market, officials and reports said Thursday. The Jerusalem Post said on Thursday that the launch of the 300-kilogramme Tecsar, Israel's most advanced satellite, could take place by the end of the week.
Indias satellite-based overhead reconnaissance capabilities will be significantly boosted when the state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launches Indias first dedicated, military-specific, operational recce satellite CARTOSAT 2A along with an Israeli synthetic aperture radar-equipped overhead reconnaissance satellite, called Polaris (previously called TechSAR), through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) this August. Polaris, weighing 300kg, can take pictures of the earth through cloud and rain, 24 hours of the day.
India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) PSLV without its six strap-on booster motors strung around its first stage will carry into orbit the Polaris/TecSat spacecraft, an Israeli radar reconnaissance spy satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India, on September 17th. They will be placed into an approximately 600-km polar orbit.
Although largely classified, the Israeli spacecrafts electronically steered, synthetic aperture radar has 1-metre resolution and differing spot, mosaic and strip imaging modes. The PSLV, a four-stage vehicle, is 44 metres tall and weighs 295 tonnes. In a core-alone configuration, it weighs about 230 tonnes minus the six strap-on booster motors.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is busy preparing to launch an Israeli satellite called Polaris by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) between September 17 and 20 from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.