* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: TechSAR

Blobrana · L

Polaris

Blobrana · L

RE: TechSAR

Blobrana · L

The launch of an Israeli strategic satellite from India was postponed for a second time.
This week's TechSAR spy satellite launch, scheduled under a strategic cooperation deal between Jerusalem and New Delhi, was postponed indefinitely.
Indian media said the delay was due to U.S. pressure given Israel's plans to share the images beamed down by TechSAR with the Indians. Israeli security sources denied any pressure from the United States, suggesting instead that a technical mishap was at fault.

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Blobrana · L

Israel has rubbished reports that Jerusalem has halted the launch of its TechSAR satellite aboard Indian launcher under US pressure, terming it "speculative writing" with "no substance" to it.
Israeli defence sources brushed aside reports in the media that the jewish nation has halted the launch of its TechSAR satellite aboard Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle under US pressure, saying it was "speculative writing" with "no substance" to it.

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Blobrana · L

Indias strategic space-based surveillance (SBS) programme has suffered a huge setback.
Following last-minute US pressure, the launch of an Indo-Israeli spy satellite with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was aborted literally at the launch pad stage.
Images from the satellite, with sub-metre picture resolution, would have significantly boosted Indias intelligence-gathering abilities. The satellite is capable of obtaining sharp images of civilian construction activities, including nuclear plants, that may have a strategic bearing. It can also scan cloud-covered mountain peaks.

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The September launch of an Israeli spy satellite from India, which now faces months of postponements, was cancelled due to "last-minute" pressure by the United States, the Indian press reported Monday.
Weighing just under 300 kilograms, the TecSar was developed by the IAI's Space Division MBT and has the ability to create images of objects on Earth even in cloudy weather conditions, a capability not available in Israel's Ofek satellite series.

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Blobrana · L

The launch of Israel's spy satellite by Indian Space Resource Organisation (ISRO) is facing "technical difficulties" and will be scheduled for launch once these are overcome, the top space scientist said.

"We are facing some technical difficulties. Once we overcome these, the launch will be scheduled" - G Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman.

TechSAR, Israel's first synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, can take sharp pictures of sub-metre resolution, which will boost its intelligence gathering capabilities significantly.

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Blobrana · L

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will launch Israel's first synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) intelligence satellite in August. The programme is funded partially by an unidentified country, which in return will get a SAR intelligence satellite for its defence needs.

Source

Blobrana · L

Israel will launch its next spy satellite aboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rather than their own state produced Shavit rocket.

Israel's Ministry of Defence and state-owned satellite producer Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd (IAI) are nearing conclusion with their Indian counterparts of all political and contractual agreements required for the planned October 2006 launch of the TechSAR, Israel's first synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite.

The TecSAR, like Israel’s Ofeq series of spy satellites, will pass over specific target areas once every 90 minutes . But because the satellite’s SAR payload is capable of providing high-resolution imagery during the day, at night and in all weather conditions, it will provide double the amount of usable intelligence within a 24-hour, since the Ofeq’s electro-optical camera cannot capture imagery at night or through clouds and other climatic obstacles.

Israel’s last launch of the low Earth orbit Ofeq-6 spy satellite ended with the satellite crashing into the Mediterranean Sea on Sept. 6 2004 .

"On the government-to-government level, a pre-existing bilateral accord on strategic cooperation (between India and Israel) already covers most aspects of the mission" .

The estimated 260 kilogram TechSAR, including the 90-kilogram SAR payload is slated as the exclusive payload aboard the PSLV, which will be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre, which is 100 km north of Chennai, on the east coast of India at 13°47' North 80°15' East.

Credit ISRO

The facility now consists of two launch pads, with the second one being recently built. The second launch pad was used for launches beginning in 2005 and is a universal launch pad, accommodating all of the launch vehicles used by ISRO. The two launch pads will allow for multiple launches in the year, which was not possible earlier.
India's lunar orbiter 'Chandrayaan 1' will be launched from this launch location in 2007-2008.

The facilities at SDSC include:
• Mobile Service Tower, Umbilical Tower and Launch Pedestal
• Solid Motor Preparation Facility
• Subsystem Preparation Facility
• Hardware Storage Facility
• Liquid/Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Facility
• Stage Preparation Facility for Cryogenic Stage
• Automatic Checkout and Control for Propellant Filling
• Safety and Fire Fighting Systems
• Satellite Preparation Facility
• Launch Control Centre and Mission Control Centre
• Precision C-band Radars and S-band Radar for tracking
• Telecommand System
• Intercommunication, CCTV system, Data Links, Range Timing System, Real Time Systems and Specialist Display System, Meteorology and Technical Photography
• TM data receiving stations

If all agreements are finalised in the coming months, as expected, IAI will ship the satellite to the Indian launch site by summer.
India and Israel had signed an umbrella agreement for space collaboration a few months after the visit of Shimon Peres, the then deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel to ISRO on January 9, 2002.

Under a separate agreement signed on December 25, 2003, ISRO is expected to launch Israel's "TAUVEX" telescope that will image the sky in the Ultra-Violet (UV) spectrum. The date for this launch is not fixed yet.

The proposed launch of spy satellite is the second contract for ISRO from Israel. The PSLV launch cost was estimated "at no more than $15 million."

-- Edited by Blobrana at 16:09, 2005-11-12