India To Launch Israeli Spy Satellite TechStar in September 2007
Dated 17/7/2007
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ISRO's four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch Israeli spy satellite - TechSar - in September 2007. The satellite is said to weigh around 260 kilograms.
Although officials at the Indian Space Research Organisation are tight-lipped about the nature of the hush-hush mission information was leaked to a daily newspaper.
The lift-off will be from the space centre at Sriharikota. The launch will mark a crucial milestone in growing Indo-Israeli military ties and there's a likelihood that some of the secret images taken by TechSar will be made available to India.
Developed by the Israeli aircraft industry, it will be Tel Aviv's first satellite with what is known as a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This will allow the satellite to see objects below which are extremely tiny. SAR is used by moving instruments like satellites over immobile targets and has wide applications in the critical area of remote sensing.
While ISRO officials confirmed the flight to TOI, they, however, maintained it was absolutely classified at this stage. All they would say was that it would be a "dedicated commercial launch for a foreign customer".
