Bharat Rakshak

India is poised to launch a $200 million military imaging radar reconnaissance

satellite purchased secretly from Israel to locate hostile Pakistani or terrorist
operations at night and during all weather conditions.

The secret spacecraft was rushed to completion following the recent terrorist attack in
Mumbai, Indian officials say.

The Indian imaging radar reconnaissance satellite made by IAI is uprated version of this
first TecSar spacecraft operated by Israel. Note composite ribs and gold mesh of a 15-
foot-diameter antenna that provides 1-meter night/all weather imaging. Credit: ISRO

The spacecraft's 15-foot diameter dish radar antenna will be able to see through the
thickest clouds and rain, snow or fog conditions during night or day to provide the
Indian Army with 1-meter resolution images. It can also "see" through camouflage
like cloth or foliage used to conceal camps or vehicles.

Officials at Lockheed Martin tell Spaceflight Now that the satellite will give India a
radar reconnaissance imaging capability comparable to the imaging radars carried by
the most modern versions of the high-flying U-2 spy plane operated by the U.S. Air
Force.

The 660-pound RISAT 2 spacecraft is to be launched April 20 on board an Indian

Space Research Organization Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, fired from the Satish
Dhawan Space Center at 6:45 a.m. local time, or 0115 GMT.

The mission is part of an expanding Indian military space program driven by serious
concerns over monitoring Pakistan and terrorist groups like Al Qaeda.

The radar satellite will add to the more traditional visual imaging intelligence
capability India already has. The country last year launched its first fairly high
resolution reconnaissance satellite, but has operated medium and low resolution
remote sensing spacecraft for years. Those spacecraft, however, can not see
through clouds or at night.
The new RISAT spacecraft is being placed in a 342-mile-high orbit, along with a
small microsatellite to be used for imaging educational purposes.

The new spacecraft was built by Israeli Aircraft Industries MBT Space subsidiary. The
radar was developed by its Elta subsidiary.

The satellite will monitor the hundreds of mountain valleys that connect India with
Pakistan and terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan further north. It should also help keep
track of ships at sea that could pose a threat.

The satellite is an upgraded version of Israel's TecSAR synthetic aperture radar

satellite. Space-based radars are especially good for monitoring rocky mountain
valleys for infiltrating vehicles that show up well in radar imagery.

The project also illustrates the growing military space ties between India and Israel,
which can build highly capable spacecraft but lacks the kind of booster power India
has to launch them. Within the last year, India launched the TecSAR radar satellite
for Israel and is likely sharing its data downlink and change detection software
capability.

Indian Space Research Organization officials said the new satellite was rushed to
completion "on a war footing" in the wake the terrorist attack in Mumbai.

The imaging radar can provide spot, mosaic and strip imaging modes. But its spot
mode can focus high-powered radar beams on a small area to build a high resolution
picture of what is there. These modes will provide a multitude of different radar
"aspect angles" -- views from electronically different directions-- from which to
illuminate targets on the ground.

While the Indian RISAT 2 mission is readied, the U.S. is also preparing for the launch
of two new military satellites on May 5.

One will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on a United Launch
Alliance Delta 2 rocket.

But a much different highly advanced imaging intelligence satellite is to be fired into
space on the same day from the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops
Island, Va. Depending on the launch time and weather conditions, that rocket launch
could be easily visible to people in Washington, D.C.

The Indian radar satellite and the U.S. missions set for May 5 are at the vanguard of
major new U.S. and international military space developments.

The programs over the long term span multi-billion dollar replacements just approved
by the Obama administration for the extremely high resolution Advanced KH-11 class
of electro-optical satellites favored by the intelligence community. President Obama
also approved the procurement of additional smaller, more operationally responsive
spacecraft favored by the military services.
The White House has also just approved the continued procurement of more
commercially-based programs like those operated by the DigitalGlobe and GeoEye
companies.

Unique imaging programs to improve space situational awareness are also

underway.

The most intriguing of these is the highly secret twin Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency "Mitex" satellites currently prowling geosynchronous orbit at nearly
25,000 miles altitude. The Mitex satellites can secretly sneak up and image
spacecraft, like those from China, that are otherwise so far away they are essentially
invisible and difficult to characterize.

Earlier this year the Mitex satellites traveled from opposite sides of the planet to
rendezvous with and inspect a crippled U.S. missile warning spacecraft.

Some Chinese and other international space officials are highly critical of the new
Mitex capability because if a U.S. satellite can sneak up to take a picture, it could
possibly also disable the other satellite without leaving evidence that it had been
done by a U.S. satellite.

The May 5 Vandenberg mission will involve the first of three new low altitude military
surveillance satellites planned for launch this summer. Two others will be launched
piggyback in late July on a single Delta 2 fired from Cape Canaveral

An artist's concept depicts two Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites
that will test "SBIRS Low" missile defense sensors. Credit: Northrop Grumman

The combined cost of all three new, largely-similar satellites is several hundred
million dollars.

The initial mission May 5 will carry the Northrop Grumman Space Tracking and
Surveillance System (STSS) spacecraft for the Missile Defense Agency.
The flight will more specifically will be part of the STSS program's Advanced
Technology Risk Reduction (STSS-ATRR) research and development flight mission
for the agency.

The mission was previously called the Block 2010 Spacecraft Risk Reduction
satellite. NASA will oversee the Delta 2 launch for the Defense Department.

This first satellite will be placed in a relatively low altitude, but high inclination orbit
relative to the equator. The Pentagon has not announced the specific orbital
parameters to be used.

The payload is part of the original "SBIRS Low" infrared sensor development
program for the tracking of ballistic missile launches midway through flight.

"The STSS Space Tracking and Surveillance test program is designed to provide
space-based sensor components for the Ballistic Missile Defense System," the
Missile Defense Agency says. The STSS satellites will use special sensors "to detect
visible and infrared light for a persistent, global detection, tracking and fire control
capability," the agency says

The satellite will use a wide-view acquisition sensor, a narrow-view tracking sensor,
and a signal and data processor subsystem to detect and track ballistic missile
launches, the agency said.

The following two SSTS spacecraft are on course for a July 29 Cape Canaveral
launch into more of a mid-latitude orbit.

Another major military space mission set for launch May 5 is being prepared at the
commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport where final integration is underway on
the $80 million Air Force Research Laboratory TacSat 3 hyperspectral imaging
satellite.

Raytheon is the primary contractor for the "ARTEMIS" Advanced Responsive

Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer at the core of TacSat 3 while ATK
built the spacecraft structure.

Hyperspectral imaging is every bit as exotic as it sounds.

Systems like the ARTEMIS scanner on TacSat 3 can break wavelengths of light
down into hundreds of bands revealing remarkable details about the target being
imaged.
The 880-pound TacSat 3 will be launched on
board a solid propellant Orbital Sciences
Minotaur rocket using Minuteman ICBM and other
rocket stages.

It will be the third Minotaur military space mission

launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional
Spaceport, which although a key new military
satellite launch site, has received relatively little
notice in the area close to the national capital
region.

At 65 feet tall with 210,000 pounds of brilliant Raytheon hyperspectral imaging system combined
with an ATK bus make up the $80 million TacSat 3
orange thrust, the Minotaur rockets are easily spacecraft. Credit: U.S. Air Force

large enough to be seen from Washington, D.C.,

roaring into space during night launches at the spaceport.

TacSat 3 is to increase the speed and resolution of imagery that can be tasked
directly by U.S. battlefield commanders.

Instead of waiting on the Air Force or Central Intelligence Agency to call for a picture
of a specific area, TacSat 3 is to demonstrate how a small $80 million 21st century
satellite can be tasked by a tech-savvy soldier or Marine to quickly obtain a picture
that used to require possibly several days to obtain by a $1 billion-class asset like the
advanced KH-11 or Lacrosse space-based radar craft.

Initiated four years ago in response to military requirements for responsive, flexible
and affordable spacecraft, TacSat 3 consists of three unique payloads: the Advanced
Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer hyperspectral imager,
the Office of Naval Research's Satellite Communications Package and the Air Force
Research Laboratory's Space Avionics Experiment.

Designated as the small satellite's main demonstration, the ARTEMIS payload will
provide, within 10 minutes of its collection, target detection and identification
information, as well as battlefield preparation and combat assessment data.

"Capabilities of the ARTEMIS sensor are that it can identify characteristics by seeing
through camouflage and foliage. It can also recognize physical characteristics such
as oil and paint," said Thom Davis, TacSat 3 program manager. "It will also
demonstrate its ability to provide real-time information to the warfighter via a text
message or on a laptop computer. With the data supplied by the spacecraft, the
commander in the theater of interest can determine if the object is something to be
concerned about or a decoy."

In addition, the heart and soul of the spacecraft, a first-generation modular bus, will
be evaluated for its operational adaptability for future TacSat flights.

TacSat 3 involves a partnership between the Army Space and Missile Defense
Command, Air Force Space Command, the Department of Defense's Operationally
Responsive Space office at Kirtland Air Force Base, the Office of Naval Research,
the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the National Geospatial Intelligence
Agency and AFRL's Sensors Directorate.