BENGALURU: ISRO is set for its 101st satellite launch this Sunday with one of its heavy satellites, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C61, also known as Earth Observatory Satellite (EOC)-09. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan told TNIE that the launch is slated for May 18.
This is one of the heaviest satellites developed by the team, and weighs around 1700kg. It will be launched from Sriharikota around 6 am. All the payloads were moved from the integration facility to the mobile service towers on Thursday for integration, ahead of the launch.
Narayanan said the all-weather satellite will closely observe the Earth exclusively for Indian applications, and will capture high resolution images. The launch is also a milestone for the Indian space sector during the Indo-Pak conflict, with around 10 Indian satellites closely watching and helping the Indian defence sector.
It marks the growth of the country in the space arena as it will help in national security and crucial infrastructure, said a senior ISRO official. The official added that this satellite will have an upgraded C-Band synthetic aperture for better resolution images.
The low orbit satellite is the XL-version rocket and is also termed as the big brother of the earlier launched all-weather satellites -- Risat-1A (Indian radar imaging satellites) launched in 2022 for information on agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, flood mitigation information; and Risat-1B, launched in 2025 for surveillance of Indian borders.
Risat-1B was one of the satellites used during Operation Sindoor for uninterrupted surveillance.