Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Indian space center successfully boosts Israeli Tecsar into orbit

From DEBKAfile, January 21, 2008, 10:38 PM (GMT+02:00):

New Israeli polar satellite launched from Indian space center begins transmitting

...The 300-kilogram Tecsar is the most advanced of Israel’s satellites. It is the first to be equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that allows its camera to take high-resolution pictures of small targets in cloudy or foggy weather at any point on earth.

It was launched from India because the Sriharikota space station in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh is positioned for boosting a satellite into polar orbit. Our military sources report that with Tecsar aloft, Israel will have complementary access for tracking Iranian’s nuclear and military activities that provided by its Ofek spy series.

The satellite, developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries, was launched by India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Monday, Jan. 21, at 05:45 Israeli time. It has signaled its smooth entry into orbit around the globe. First images will be beamed down to earth in two weeks.

This was India’s second commercial mission on behalf of a foreign country and was acclaimed in New Delhi as an “important milestone” for India’s space program.

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