RISAT-1 postponed to 2011

RISAT-1 Tile Source:ISRO

The launch of India's first satellite with an indigenous Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR), the RISAT-1, has been delayed further to next year. Delays in the fabrication of satellite led to prioritization of RISAT-2, which uses a SAR developed from the Israel Aerospace Industries, launched back in April 2009.

The satellite is supposed to be launched in the first half of 2011 according to the Chairman of ISRO. The Director of the Space Applications Center had previously stated that the satellite would be launched in mid-2011 in an article for the IEEE-GRSS Newsletter. It would used for mapping and managing natural disasters, besides amplifying defence surveillance capabilities.

Further technical parameters and information on the satellite can he found here.

RISAT-1