Cartosat-3 is an advanced Indian Earth observation satellite built and developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which replaces the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) series. It has a panchromatic resolution of 0.25 metres making it one of the imaging satellite with highest resolution in the world at the time of launch and MX of 1 metre with a high quality resolution which is a major improvement from the previous payloads in the Cartosat series.
Potential uses include weather mapping, cartography or defence, and strategic applications.
Overview.
Cartosat-3 has a resolution of 25 cm (10"). It uses 1.2 m optics with 60% of weight removal compared to Cartosat-2. Other features include the use of adaptive optics, acousto optical devices, in-orbit focusing using MEMs and large area-light weight mirrors and advanced sense with a high quality resolution. It has a planned mission life of 5 years. Approved cost of Cartosat-3 is (). It captures Panchromatic and Multispectral images with spectral bandwidth from 0.45 - 0.9 μm which includes visible blue (0.45 - 0.52 μm), visible green (0.52 - 0.59 μm), visible red (0.62 - 0.68 μm) and near IR (0.77 - 0.86 μm).
History.
Cartosat-3 is the 3rd generation of high-resolution imaging satellites developed by ISRO. It was developed in response to increased demand for imaging services to address urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development needs.
Launch.
PSLV-C47 carrying Cartosat-3 was launched on 27 November 2019 at 03:58 UTC using XL variant of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a Sun-synchronous orbit of 450 kilometers. Thirteen commercial ride-sharing 3U cubesats including twelve SuperDoves (Flock-4p) by Planet Labs and one Meshbed by Analytical Space of United States were also put in orbit using the same launch vehicle. Commercial ride-share was arranged by NewSpace India Limited, Spaceflight Industries and ISILaunch.
References.
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