May 05, 2005

CARTOSAT-1 launched

CARTOSAT-1 a high-tech mapping satellite, was launched by India's space agency on Thursday. CARTOSAT-1 has the ability to track every house and street in the nation of over a billion people. Reuters reports this move signals an advanced effort by India to get into the lucrative business of satellite launch services and using space technology for rural and urban development. India aims to use CARTOSAT-1 to help urban and rural planning, land and water management, relief operations and environmental assessments. CARTOSAT-1 carries two panchromatic cameras that take black and white stereoscopic pictures in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The imageries will have a spatial resolution of 2.5 metre and cover a swath of 30 km . CARTOSAT-1 can take photos of cars on the ground, though not their number plates.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-6, blasted off at 10:14 a.m. (0444 GMT), carrying the 1.5 ton(3,300 lbs) satellite from the spaceport village of Sriharikota, some 100 km (62 miles) north of southern Madras city on the Bay of Bengal coast.

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