Thirty imaging satellites planned by India

India plans to build a new satellite ground station in Hyderabad by June next year and launch no less than 30 Earth imaging satellites over the next decade, reports Press Trust of India (PTI).

The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), manages the country’s remote sensing satellites. The satellites are used to study water resources, agriculture, mineral exploration, mapping and urban area studies.

In July, India launched the Cartosat-2B satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Cartosat-2B is the 17^th satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite series. It is capable of imaging with a resolution of better than one meter (three feet). Future plans show India launching a series of Cartosat satellites with 30-centimeter (11-inch) resolution.

NRSC has its own ground station at Shadnagar, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Hyderabad, to collect satellite data from the Indian Remote Sensing satellites and other foreign satellites.

With the new ground station planned in Hyderabad and a series of new satellites, the NRSC could deliver imagery to a customer within 12 hours compared to current service which could take four to five days.