India successfully launches spy satellite

NEW DELHI - India Thursday successfully launched its home-made remote sensing spy Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, sources said.

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-19 blasts off, carrying the country's first radar imaging satellite RISAT-1 from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota, north of the southern Indian city of Chennai April 26, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

The spy satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry as well as for defense purposes. The satellite has been made by scientists at Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

It was launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

It can acquire data at C-band and capable of observation on all weather, day and night conditions.

"This is not only the first radar imaging satellite to be built by India but this is the heaviest remote-sensing satellite built by the ISRO. Besides, it is the heaviest satellite to be put in orbit by the PSLV," said an Indian official earlier this week.

"RISAT-1 weighs 1858 kg. The satellite's propulsion system will then be used to take it to the final orbit at an altitude of 536 km," said ISRO spokesman S. Satish.