India’s first spy satellite made by domestic private player set for launch

The first spy satellite in India to be made by a local private player is set to be launched in a SpaceX rocket by April and will be used by the armed forces to get discreet information, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Monday.

The satellite that has been built by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) is being sent to Florida for its launch, the report added.

Earlier, the armed forces had to acquire the required exact coordinates and timings from foreign vendors. But now, this satellite will allow them to be monitored by India and also provide it with full ground control.

The ground control centre, which will be set up in Bengaluru, is also being worked on and is expected to be operational soon. This will be used for guidance and processing the imagery sent by the satellite.

The centre is being built in partnership with Satellogic, a Latin-American company, the report added.

The imagery sent by the TASL satellite will also be allowed to be shared with friendly nations.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) also has satellites that can help share the imagery but their application, given the vast coverage required, is only limited. India currently uses US companies to get the necessary spy data. The need has increased after the skirmishes with China at the Line of Actual Control.

Last week, Isro launched its meteorological satellite INSAT-3DS aboard spacecraft GSLV F14 from the Sriharikota spaceport. It will study weather forecasts and natural disaster warnings. Owing to its patchy track record. The GSLV has been called “naughty boy”.

Isro has also been involved with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), for developing a Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite to study the Earth. The chief of Isro, S Somanath recently said that it was not a “surveillance satellite”. Business Standard