Disha Explains: A-SAT is an anti-satellite weapon designed for incapacitate or destroy satellites in space for strategic military purposes whereas EMISAT is an Electronic Intelligence Satellite that will act as a radar to keep an eye on enemies.
What is EMISAT?
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched an EMISAT a Electronic Intelligence Satellite on 1st April, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. It is released into an orbit at 749 km.
It is 47th mission of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45).
It was the first mission ever by the Indian space agenc to place payloads in three different orbits.
Did you know? ISRO with EMISAT satellite has launched 28 other satellites from other nations including 24 from the US from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. This was PSLV’s 47th flight.
ISRO said that the first stage of a new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL equipped with four strap-on motors was also used for the launch.
28 Satellites
The 28 other international satellites are of 25 3U type, two 6U type and one 2U type nano satellites and two are from Lithuania, one from Spain, one from Switzerland and 24 from the United States.
All the 28 customer satellites whose total weight is about 220 kgs were released by lowering the fourth state to around 504 kms orbit.
What is A-SAT?
EMISAT is an Electronic Intelligence Satellite that would serve the country’s roving device for detecting and gathering electronic intelligence from enemy radars across the borders as it circles the globe roughly pole to pole every 90 minutes or so.
For the first time in ISRO’s history the fourth stage would be ignited and further lowered to 485 kms orbit to serve as an orbital platform for carrying out space borne experimentations.
According to space agency, for the structural and compositional studies of ionosphere, the Advanced Retarding Potential Analyser for Ionospheric Studies (ARIS) from Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) is done.
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