Cartosat-3 satellite is a third generation agile advanced satellite having high resolution imaging capability. It was launched on 27 November, 2019 on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C47 which was the 21st flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration (with 6 solid strap-on motors) and 49th flight of PSLV. It is an Earth Observation satellite.
Background
Cartosat-3 is the ninth satellite in the CARTOSAT series which have been developed by the national space agency to further advance its remote sensing and mapping applications. The first such satellite (Cartosat-1) was launched in early 2005 as part of the Indian Remote Sensing Programme. The current satellite has a mission life of five years.
Significance of Cartosat-3
Applications
Challenge of time-gaps
Since, most of these satellites are in polar orbit and pass over any given point of the planet’s surface at the same local mean solar time; they take more than a day to come over that spot again. So there is a time-gap. The revisit time for same location of a Cartosat satellite is more than a day.
Way Forward
If there are a constellation of satellites, then they can contribute to more frequent availability of the imagery and adequate visibility of the areas of interest and bring down the time gap significantly.