IRS-1E was an

Earth observation Earth observation (EO) is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biological systems of the planet Earth. It can be performed via remote-sensing technologies (Earth observation satellites) or through direct-contact sensors ...

mission launched under the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) programme 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 o ...

(ISRO). Sometimes written IRS-P1. The objective of the mission was to develop

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

imagery using instruments carried on board. Due to a malfunction of the

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and sys ...

, the satellite deviated from its path and plunged into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

History

IRS-1E was a follow-up mission to the satellite

IRS-1A IRS-1A, Indian Remote Sensing satellite-1A, the first of the series of indigenous state-of-art remote sensing satellites, was successfully launched into a polar Sun-synchronous orbit on 17 March 1988 from the Soviet Cosmodrome at Baikonur. IRS- ...

, to develop India's capability in the field of

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 Ear ...

. The satellite was to take up missions in the area of ground-water exploration, land use, forest and flood mapping. The letter "E" indicates that the satellite was an engineering model. The letter "P" (IRS-P1) in the

Indian Remote Sensing Programme 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 ...

Earth observation satellite 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, ...

indicates that the satellite was to be launched aboard a

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 ...

(PSLV). It was launched on 20 September 1993.

Instruments

IRS-1E carried two instruments: * Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor-1 (LISS-1) * MEOSS (Monocular Electro-Optical Stereo Scanner), built by the

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...

(DLR), is an experimental sensor with pushbroom

Charge-coupled device A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

(CCD) technology. MEOSS is a stereo camera system capable of recording three images simultaneously with a single lens by means of linear scanning (3-line stereo system).

Launch

IRS-1E mission was a failure, as the last stage of the

PSLV-D1 PSLV-D1 was the first mission of the PSLV program. The rocket carried IRS-1E satellite but could not deploy it as the mission failed due to a software error in on board guidance and control processor. PSLV-D1 was launched at 5:12 a.m. IST on ...

malfunctioned, so failed to launch the satellite into its desired orbit. The PSLV was first launched on 20 September 1993, at 05:12 UTC. The first and second stages performed as expected, but an

attitude control Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc. Controlling vehicle ...

problem led to the collision of the second and third stages at separation, and the satellite failed to reach orbit. After this initial setback, the PSLV successfully completed its second mission in 1994.

References

External links

ISRO IRS-1E link
{{Orbital launches in 1993 Earth observation satellites of India Spacecraft launched in 1993 1993 in India

History

Instruments

Launch

See also

References

External links