Communication-Centric Intelligence Satellite is an Indian advanced

reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...

, being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It will be India's first officially declared dedicated spy satellite and is expected to be in orbit, tentatively, by 2014. This satellite will help Indian

intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...

to significantly boost surveillance of

terror camp A terrorist training camp is a facility established to train individuals in the ways of terrorism. By teaching them the methods and tactics of terrorism, those conducting such facilities aim to create an "army" of individuals who will do their b ...

s in neighbouring countries.

Utilisation

The CCI-Sat will be able to capture images, eaves drop on

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

(for example, a conversation between two

satellite phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio through orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. The advantage of a sa ...

s) and perform

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

. It will be equipped with a

synthetic aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

to take high-resolution images of target regions. The cost of the satellite is expected to be around ₹ 100

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

(around US$25 million). ISRO will contribute towards the satellite's design and development and the Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) will be responsible for manufacturing the

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

.Bhargavi, Kerur
"India's Spy in the Sky by 2020"
''DNA India'', February 10, 2010 According to DLRL Director G Boopathy, the CCI-Sat is an essential component of the initiative taken by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

to further develop the electronic warfare capabilities of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

,Bent on boosting its military intelligence, India is set to develop a new, cutting edge surveillance satellite
Indian eye in sky developed
UPI News.

Description

According to Bhoopathy, the CCI-Sat would orbit Earth at an altitude of 500 km and provide surveillance and monitoring regions in promitiy to India and passing on surveillance data to India intelligence agencies. Bhoopathy also added that India's defense doctrine would continue to develop assets in space and that the equipping for

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

from space was a major goal of the Government of India.

Future plans

This satellite will also be a test bed for future technology. Similar in line with

Cartosat The Cartosat is a series of Indian optical earth observation satellites built and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Cartosat series is a part of the Indian Remote Sensing Program. They are used for Earth's resourc ...

s, the satellite can be steered up to high degrees along, as well as across, the track, with one end-objective of providing an agile platform to field cutting edge technology developed from previous experience gained by India’s extensive

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Earth ...

and TES satellite programs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communication-Centric Intelligence Satellite (Cci-Sat) Space programme of India Reconnaissance satellites Synthetic aperture radar satellites

Utilisation

Description

Future plans

See also

References