Bangalore: India is set to launch an indigenous satellite with the "unique" capability to capture images in all-weather conditions that will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, ISRO said on Wednesday.
India currently depends on images from a Canadian satellite as domestic remote sensing spacecraft cannot take pictures of the ground during cloud cover.
After nearly 10 years of effort, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed with a lot of participation from Indian industries, a microwave satellite that has the unique capability of imaging during day and night and in all weather conditions, it said.
"This (Radar Imaging Satellite or RISAT-1) is about 1,850 kg. So, this will be heaviest satellite lifted by a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)," ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan told in Bangalore.
"It's most likely to be launched on April 26 at 5.45 am," he said. "It has taken about 10 years of efforts in developing this (RISAT-1)".
The approved cost of RISAT-1, including its development, is Rs 378 crore, while Rs 120 crore has been spent to build the rocket (PSLV-C19), making it a Rs 498-crore mission. RISAT-1 is a "complex satellite", Radhakrishnan said.
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