PSLV puts Israeli satellite into orbit

On 21 January 2008, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C10, successfully put the Israeli staellite Tecsar into orbit. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Tecsar, weighing 300 kg, is a remote-sensing satellite that can take pictures of the earth 365 days of the year, 24 hours of the day, through rain, clouds, day and night. It has a one-metre resolution. It was earlier known as Polaris.

Contrary to custom, reporters and photographers were barred from entering the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota to cover the event. Israel reportedly wanted the launch kept under wraps. The launch was executed under a commercial contract between the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), to which Tecsar belongs, and the Antrix Corporation, marketing agency of the Department of Space/ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation).

A report posted on the website of the Israeli daily Haaretz said that "Israel launched early on Monday a sophisticated new spy satellite, designited Tecsar, which could boost intelligence gathering capabilities regarding Iran." In a separate analysis the daily said "The launch of an Israeli satellite atop an Indian missile from a launch site in India bears a number of aditional advantages. First, it enables a new point of view in space, allowing it photographic angles and reception of Iranian communications, which were unable in prior satellite launches." The Jerusalem Post said the new satellite was capable of imagining with a resolution of upto 10 centimetres.

On the other hand, G Madhavan said that "21 January 2008 signified a landmark event in the history of Antrix Corporation Limited because on that day India's PSLV put in orbit an Israeli satellite called Tecsar in a fullfleged commercial launch transaction." Antrix Corporation is the marketing agency of the ISRO/Department of Space. Antrix has receieved a handsome amount from the IAI for launching the satellite.

Reference

Subramanian,T.S (2008), "PSLV puts Israeli satellite into orbit", The Hindu, 22 January 2008,Delhi, p.1.

Aneja, Atul (2008), "Satellite will spy on Iran:Israeli media", The Hindu,22 January 2008,Delhi, p.12.

Subramanian, T.S (2008), "A landmark event, says Madhavan Nair", The Hindu, 22 January 2008, Delhi, p.13.