IRS-1D is the seventh satellite in

Indian Remote Sensing satellite India's remote sensing program was developed with the idea of applying space technologies for the benefit of humankind and the development of the country. The program involved the development of three principal capabilities. The first was to desi ...

series of

Earth Observation satellites An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

, built, launched and maintained by

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

(ISRO). The satellite has similar capabilities as that of ISRO's

IRS-1C IRS-1C was the fifth remote sensing Indian satellite built, and designed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). IRS-1C is first second-generation operational Remote Sensing Satellite. The satellite carries payloads with enhanced capabili ...

satellite with some improvements added for better imagery particularly in

thematic map A thematic map is a type of map that portrays the geographic pattern of a particular subject matter (theme) in a geographic area. This usually involves the use of map symbols to visualize selected properties of geographic features that are not ...

ping.

Launch

The 1250 kg IRS-1D is an Indian

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 ...

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

er that was launched by the

PSLV-C1 PSLV-C1 was the overall fourth mission of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) program by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The vehicle carried IRS-1D satellite which was deployed in the Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). This was India' ...

(

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

) launch vehicle from

Sriharikota Sriharikota is a Barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast located in the Shar Project settlement of Tirupati district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It houses the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, one of the two satellite launch centres in India (the o ...

(in southeast India) at 04:47 UTC. The 44.4 metres, four-stage, 494-ton PSLV-1C is now an operational vehicle, after earlier test launches, it is the fourth launch vehicle PSLV. Orbit maneuvers may be planned to raise the perigee. Due to a slight under performance of PSLV fourth stage, IRS-1D was injected with a velocity that was 130 m/sec less than the required 7446 m/sec. This minor shortfall in the injection velocity resulted in IRS-1D being injected into a

polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...

with an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

of 822 km and a

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

of 301 km instead of the intended 817 km circular orbit. But, ISRO scientists, monitoring and controlling the satellite from ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) executed meticulously planned orbit manoeuvres to successfully put IRS-1D into a functional Sun-synchronous orbit of 740 km perigee and 817 km apogee.

Instruments

The satellite carried following instruments on board: * Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor-3 (LISS-3) of resolution in ( VIS / NIR, resolution in

short-wave infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

(SWIR), for high-resolution land and vegetation observation * Panchromatic Camera (PAN) of resolution, for very-high-resolution land imagery * Wide-Field Sensor (WiFS) of resolution, for land and vegetation observation An on board tape recorder stores data over unreachable intervals. Sensed data on Indian and foreign terrains will be sold through an American company (after the usual clearance by Indian military).

Mission

IRS-1D completed its services on 15 January 2010 after serving for 12 years.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1997 Earth observation satellites of India Partial satellite launch failures Spacecraft launched in 1997 1997 in India

Launch

Instruments

Mission

See also

References