IRS-P2 was an

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, ...

launched under the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) programme undertaken by

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman o ...

(ISRO). The objectives of the mission were to provide spaceborne capability to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in observing and managing

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

s and utilizing them in a productive manner. The satellite carried imaging multi-spectral

radiometer A radiometer or roentgenometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux (power) of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, a radiometer is an infrared radiation detector or an ultraviolet detector. Microwave radiometers operate in the microwave ...

s on board for radio sensing of the resources.

History

The satellite was designed, developed and tested in just one and a half years. IRS-P2 is one of the satellites in the Indian Remote Sensing Programme of Earth Observation satellites, assembled, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The satellite was controlled by ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

and

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSC),

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

received the first signal from IRS-P2, 98 minutes after the launch. The IRS-P2 was declared operational from 7 November 1994 after certain orbital manoeuvres and started its 3-year-long observation mission. The letter "P" indicates that the satellite was to be launched aboard a

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

(PSLV).

Instrument

IRS-P2 carried an instrument, the Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor-2M (LISS-2M), two solid state push broom cameras operating using

Charge-coupled device A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

(CCD) and were capable of providing imagery in four spectral bands in the visible and

near-infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from arou ...

range with resolution.

Mission

IRS-P2 completed its mission successfully on 15 September 1997 after a duration of 3 years. The images was marketed through a private company in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The data transmitted from the satellite was gathered from

National Remote Sensing Centre National Remote Sensing Centre (Hindi: राष्ट्रीय सुदूर संवेदन केन्द्र), or NRSC, located in Hyderabad, Telangana is one of the centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation The India ...

and EOSAT, a partnership of

Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other pro ...

and RCA.

References

External links

ISRO IRS-P2 link
{{Orbital launches in 1994 Earth observation satellites of India Spacecraft launched in 1994 1994 in India

History

Instrument

Mission

See also

References

External links