RISAT-1 successfully placed in its final ordbit

Bangalore, Apr 28 (PTI) ISRO today said the indigenously built Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), launched on April 26, has been placed in its final Polar Sun-synchronous Orbit of 536 km height. "PSLV-C19 had placed RISAT-1 in a polar orbit of 470 km X 480 km. As planned, on April 27-28, the satellite propulsion system was used in four orbital manoeuvres to raise the height of the orbit of RISAT-1 to 536 km," ISRO said in a statement here. The satellite is now in its final orbital configuration and in good health. In the coming days, various elements of the C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar will be tested and calibrated as a prelude to payload operations, it said. "As compared to the optical remote sensing satellites that depend upon sunlight, the Synthetic Aperture Radar of RISAT-1 transmits its own radar pulses (at 5.35 GHz) to study the objects on Earth. This facilitates (i) cloud penetration and (ii) imaging even without sunlight. For RISAT-1, imaging sessions around both 6 AM and 6 PM have been chosen," it said. The 1,858 kg RISAT-1, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched on board the PSLV-C19 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, around 90 km from Chennai.