India's first dedicated satellite for educational services, Edusat, was scheduled to be launched on 20 September from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharokota Island. The Edusat launch is the first operational flight of India's three-stage Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle after development flights in April 2001 and May 2003.
The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) 1,950kg (4,300lb) Edusat will be launched into geostationary orbit to be colocated with the agency's Insat-3C and Kalpana-1 satellites at 74° east. Based on ISRO's I-2K standard bus, Edusat carries five Ku-band transponders providing regional spot beams, plus one Ku-band and six extended C-band transponders providing national coverage.
ISRO, meanwhile, says its Chandryan-1 unmanned lunar mission is on track for launch in 2007-8 using the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Six areas of research have been identified and Europe and the USA have raised interest in contributing payloads to the mission.
Scientific objectives of the mission include high-resolution remote sensing of the Moon in the visible, near-infrared, low-energy x-ray and high-energy x-ray regions of the spectrum to produce three-dimensional maps with 5-10m resolution. The lunar orbiter will also conduct chemical mapping of the surface with a resolution of 10km for metals and 20km for elements such as thorium and uranium.
RADHAKRISHNA RAO / BANGALORE
Source: Flight International
