A Long March-4C carrier rocket will carry the satellite, the second of China's Fengyun III series, into space.

Preparations for the launch have progressed smoothly, the statement said.

earlier related report
RISAT-1 Launch In 2011 Will Boost Weather Surveillance
New Delhi (PTI) Oct 29, 2010 - India's earth observation capabilities are set to get a boost with the launch of indigenously-developed RISAT-1 early next year.

The satellite will be launched in the first half of the next year, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said while delivering the IGNOU silver jubilee lecture here, adding RISAT-1 will be a "major milestone" for the country and a boon for regions perennially under cloud cover.

The satellite's all weather capability to take images of the earth could also be used to keep an eye on the country's borders round-the-clock and to help in anti-terrorist and anti-infiltration operations.

Radhakrishnan said that the Indian Remote Sensing satellites operate in the visible infrared spectrum and cannot see the earth through cloud cover.

The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), being developed indigenously by ISRO, has the capability to take pictures of the earth 24 hours-a-day, through rain and cloud, thus boosting the country's disaster response capabilities.

India had jointly developed RISAT-2 with Israel and launched the satellite in April last year.

It would also be beneficial in mapping and managing natural disasters, such as floods and landslides, besides amplifying defence surveillance capabilities. It would also help keep track of ships at seat that could pose a threat.

earlier related report
Inter-planetary missions a reality soon: ISRO chief
New Delhi (IANS) Oct 28 - India's space programme is inching closer to the realisation of its plans for inter-planetary missions, a senior official said Monday.

"A mission to Mars, for several reasons, has become a priority for us. We are trying to actualise the ideas as soon as possible.

"Deep space missions have their own challenges. Gravitational forces from different planets, x-rays from sun and various other hazards have to be carefully monitored before the mission, besides a study of Martian surface," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan said.

Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of Indira Gandhi National Open University ( IGNOU), Radhakrishnan touched on future missions of ISRO, including ASTROSAT - India's first dedicated multi-wavelength astronomy satellite, Chandrayan 2, the sequel to lunar mission Chandrayan 1, and a possible human-spaceflight.

"Chandrayaan 1 was cornerstone of deep space exploration in India. Chandrayan 2 will mainly consist of a lander, which is being developed by Russia, and a rover, which is currently being fabricated in Indian laboratories,' he said.

Since its inception around five decades ago, ISRO has accomplished 31 launch vehicle missions, built 55 Indian satellites and fabricated 2 satellites for foreign customers, said Radhakrishnan.

Source: Xinhua and IANS News Agencies

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News