The radar imaging satellite (RISAT-2) launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from Sriharikota on Monday is owned and operated by ISRO, its chief said, dismissing reports labelling RISAT-2 a “spy satellite”. “This is an imaging satellite that can identify features on ground. There is nothing as a spy satellite. Though the satellite has a global coverage we will use it only for our use,” ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair told reporters at a post-launch press conference. He was reacting to media reports terming RISAT a spy satellite or defense surveillance satellite launched by ISRO's workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) early morning on Monday. However, informed sources said the satellite's synthetic aperture radar gives it day-night capability and the ability to look through clouds and fog, thus giving it defense applications. The satellite launched on Monday is actually RISAT-2 that was fast-tracked in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in place of the RISAT-1 that ISRO is developing. The PSLV rocket also sent into orbit a micro-educational satellite ANUSAT built by Anna University with funding support from ISRO. Though the launch went as planned, ISRO scientists spent tense hours on Sunday as one of the umbilical cords holding the rocket to the launch pad fell off, damaging nearly six connectors. “Six hours of countdown time were spent on setting things right,” Nair said. Not disclosing the price paid to the Israel Aerospace Industry, with which RISAT has been developed, Nair said: “Normally a remote sensing satellite weighing one tonne would cost around Rs 80 crore. This spacecraft is much smaller.” India now joins a select group of countries in the world like Canada, Israel, Japan and a few others in having such a precision satellite. On the status of the Chandrayaan-2 project, TK Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, said: “The project planning is in full swing. The two phased project will involve orbiting the moon and soft landing on the moon surface.”
