Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) is an Indian

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Ear ...

and photo-reconnaissance satellite.

Launch

TES was launched by the

PSLV-C3 PSLV-C3 was the third operational launch and overall sixth mission of the PSLV program. This launch was also the forty-sixth launch by Indian Space Research Organisation since its first mission on 1 January 1962. The vehicle carried three satellite ...

rocket from the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) at

Sriharikota Sriharikota is a Barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast located in the Shar Project settlement of Tirupati district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It houses the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, one of the two satellite launch centres in India (t ...

in the south-east Indian coast at 04:53 UT on 22 October 2001. This is the fifth consecutive successful launch of the 294-tonne

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) rocket and the second launch with multiple satellites. The 1108 kg satellite carries a one-meter resolution panchromatic camera is an experimental

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of

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 of ...

(ISRO). It was successfully placed in 572 km Sun-synchronous orbit on 22 October 2001 using the

. The PSLV-C3 also injected two more satellites:

PROBA PROBA is minisatellite technology demonstration mission in ESA's General Study Program with the objective to address issues of on-board operational autonomy of a generic platform. PROBA (Project for On-Board Autonomy), renamed PROBA-1, is a Belgia ...

, a Belgian satellite and

BIRD Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

, a German satellite.

Mission

The technologies demonstrated in TES are attitude and orbit control system, high torque

reaction wheel A reaction wheel (RW) is used primarily by spacecraft for three-axis attitude control, and does not require rockets or external applicators of torque. They provide a high pointing accuracy, and are particularly useful when the spacecraft must be ...

s, new reaction

control system A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial ...

with optimised thrusters and a single propellant tank, light weight spacecraft structure, solid state recorder,

X-band The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxim ...

phased array antenna, improved satellite positioning system, miniaturised TTC and power system and, two-mirror-on-axis camera optics. TES has a pan chromatic camera for

. The camera is which is capable of producing images of one metre resolution. One metre resolution means the camera is able to distinguish between two objects which are separated at least a metre. The launch of TES made India the second country in the world after the United States that can commercially offer images with one metre resolution.BBC News: India's spy satellite boost
/ref> It is used for remote sensing of civilian areas, mapping industry and geographical information services. TES, helped the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

with high-resolution images during the 11 September 2001 counter-terrorism offensive against the Taliban.

References

External links

ISRO PSLV C3 page
{{Orbital launches in 2001 Earth observation satellites of India Spacecraft launched by PSLV rockets Spacecraft launched in 2001 2001 in India

Launch

Mission

See also

References

External links