IRS-1C Credit - ISRC

Indian Remote Sensing Satellite. Operational remote sensing of the Earth for natural resources management applications. Data from IRS satellites was received and processed by the National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad. The US company SI also received and marketed IRS data worldwide under a commercial contract with the Antrix Corporation of the Indian Department of Space.

IRS-P6 was the tenth satellite of the IRS series, and carried three cameras similar to those of IRS-1C and IRS-1D but with improved spatial resolutions:

• A high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS-4) operating in three spectral bands in the Visible and Near Infrared Region (VNIR) with 5.8 meter spatial resolution and steerable up to plus/minus 26 deg across track to obtain stereoscopic imagery and achieve five day revisit capability
• A medium resolution LISS-3 operating in three spectral bands in VNIR and one in Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) band with 23.5 meter spatial resolution
• An Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) operating in three spectral bands in VNIR and one band in SWIR with 56 meter spatial resolution.

Salient Features:

• Orbit: Circular Polar Sun Synchronous
• Orbit height: 817 km
• Orbit inclination: 98.7 deg
• Orbit period: 101.35 min
• Number of Orbits per day: 14
• Local Time of Equator crossing: 10.30 a.m.
• Repetitivity (LISS-3): 24 days
• Revisit (LISS-4): 5 days
• Lift-off Mass: 1360 kg
• Attitude and Orbit Control: 3-axis body stabilized using Reaction Wheels, Magnetic Torquers and Hydrazine Thrusters
• Power: Solar Array generating 1250 W, Two 24 Ah Ni-Cd batteries
• Mission Life: 5 years

Typical orbit: 829 km x 859 km at 99 degrees inclination. Mass: 1,250 kg (2,750 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78M, PSLV, Vostok 8A92M.

• 1988 March 17 - IRS-1A - Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 975 kg (2,149 lb). Perigee: 897 km (557 mi). Apogee: 917 km (569 mi). Inclination: 99.00 deg. Period: 103.10 min.

  Indian remote sensing; 1st Soviet commercial launch. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1A). Operational remote sensing of the Earth for natural resources management applications. Also registered by the USSR as object no. 2387 in ST/SG/SER.E/182 and orbital parameters 102.7 min, 863 x 917 km x 99.01 deg.

• 1991 August 29 - IRS-1B - Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 980 kg (2,160 lb). Perigee: 892 km (554 mi). Apogee: 919 km (571 mi). Inclination: 99.00 deg. Period: 103.10 min.

  Remote sensing; launched commercially by USSR. Operational remote sensing satellite for natural resources management.

• 1993 September 20 - IRS-1E - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. FAILURE: Software error caused vehicle to go off course.

• 1994 October 15 - IRS-P2 - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 870 kg (1,910 lb). Perigee: 818 km (508 mi). Apogee: 820 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.67 deg. Period: 101.29 min.

  Remote sensing; sun-synch orbit.

• 1995 December 28 - IRS-1C - Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78M. Mass: 1,250 kg (2,750 lb). Perigee: 819 km (508 mi). Apogee: 820 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.60 deg. Period: 101.30 min.

  Indian Remote Sensing Satellite.

• 1996 March 21 - IRS-P3 - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 930 kg (2,050 lb). Perigee: 819 km (508 mi). Apogee: 820 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.50 deg. Period: 101.30 min.

  LEO

• 1997 September 29 - IRS-1D - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Perigee: 742 km (461 mi). Apogee: 823 km (511 mi). Inclination: 98.50 deg. Period: 100.50 min.

• 1999 May 26 - OceanSat 1 (IRS-P4) - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 1,036 kg (2,283 lb). Perigee: 721 km (448 mi). Apogee: 724 km (449 mi). Inclination: 98.30 deg. Period: 99.30 min.

  Remote sensing satellite with Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR)

• 2003 October 17 - ResourceSat 1 (IRS-P6) - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 1,360 kg (2,990 lb). Perigee: 813 km (505 mi). Apogee: 836 km (519 mi). Inclination: 98.80 deg. Period: 101.40 min.

  The satellite was to replace IRS-1C and IRS-1D, and carried three cameras for remote sensing, the highest resolution one being the 6-meter LISS-4 imager. The sensors were designed for agricultural remote sensing applications.

• 2005 May 5 - CartoSat 1 - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 1,560 kg (3,430 lb). Perigee: 620 km (380 mi). Apogee: 623 km (387 mi). Inclination: 97.90 deg. Period: 97.10 min.

  First launch from new second PSLV pad at Sriharikota. Eleventh satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series, Cartosat-1 carried two panchromatic cameras, one fore-mounted with a tilt of +26 deg and the other aft-mounted with a tilt of -5 deg from the yaw axis. Together they provided black-and-white stereoscopic pictures in the visible region ( 0.50-0.85 micron) of the electromagnetic spectrum with a spatial resolution of 2.5 metre. The cameras covered a swath of 30 km and a solid state memory recorded up to 120 GB of images for downloading when the satellite passed over the Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore or ISTRAC stations at Lucknow, Mauritius, Bears Lake in Russia and Biak in Indonesia. Cartosat 1's sun-synchronous orbit crossed the equator at a local time of 10:30. The spacecraft was 3-axis stabilised using reaction wheels, magnetic torquers and hydrazine thrusters. 1100 W of eectrical power was provided by a 5 sq m solar array and two 24 Ah Ni-Cd batteries. Mission life was 5 years. Launch delayed from February, late April. The multispectral satellite had a 2.5-meter resolution camera.

• 2007 January 10 - Cartosat-2 - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 680 kg (1,490 lb). Perigee: 629 km (390 mi). Apogee: 644 km (400 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. Period: 97.40 min.

  The satellite was the twelfth in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series and was capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery. The panchromatic camera provided imagery with a spatial resolution of better than one metre and a swath of 9.6 km. Data from the satellite was to be used for detailed mapping.

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