HysIS, the country's first hyperspectral imaging satellite for advanced earth observation, is slated for launch on Thursday from Sriharikota.

About 30 small satellites of foreign customers will be ferried on the PSLV launcher, numbered C-43, the Indian Space Research Organisation has announced. They will go into an orbit different from that of HysIS. The launch from the first launch pad is set for 9.57 a.m.

Clearer images

A hyperspectral imaging camera in space can provide well-defined images that can help identify objects on earth far more clearly than regular optical or remote sensing cameras, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said earlier.

The technology will be an added advantage in watching over India from space across sectors including defence, agriculture, land use and mineral exploration. Sources said the new ‘eye in the sky’ can be used to even mark out a suspect object or person on the ground and separate it from the background with applications in transborder infiltration etc.

“The primary goal of HysIS is to study the Earth’s surface in visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum,” ISRO said.

HysIS will be ISRO's first full-scale working satellite with this capability. While the technology has been around, not many space agencies have working satellites with hyperspectral imaging cameras as yet.

Third longest mission

The November 29 PSLV flight would last eight minutes short of two hours, making it the third longest, low-earth mission of ISRO.

The satellites would be ejected in two orbits by restarting the rocket's fourth-stage engine twice.

The PSLV, flying in its core-alone format, will first release HysIS to an orbit at 636 km 17 minutes after launch. The engine of the rocket's fourth stage will be restarted twice — once an hour from launch and again 47 minutes later.

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