देश
Explained: How India spy satellite EMISAT keeps an eye on the borders
Amid simmering tensions between India and China at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, India’s spy satellite EMISAT has succeeded in gathering information about the positions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). It is to be noted that EMISAT which carries Kautilya is operated by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
EMISAT is a satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 bus weighing about 436 kg. The satellite was successfully placed in its intended sun-synchronous polar orbit of 748 km height by PSLV-C45 on April 01, 2019. The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.
EMISAT is country’s first electronic surveillance satellite. It is a very powerful electronic intelligence/surveillance satellite which has been developed in India jointly by ISRO and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
Space-based electronic intelligence or ELINT from the 436-kg spacecraft will add teeth to situational awareness of the Armed Forces as it will provide location and information of hostile radars placed at the borders; this will be another dimension to current land or aircraft-based ELINT, according to defence experts who did not wish to be named.
ISRO, which is said to have built the satellite body for the DRDO payload, merely said the spacecraft would measure the electromagnetic spectrum.