New all weather spy satellite delivers first high-resolution photos on stormy night
TEL AVIV — A new surveillance satellite, designed to provide images during day, night and all weather
conditions, including under cloud cover has relayed its first images to
earth.
Israel's TecSAR satellite transmitted its images on Jan. 30.
Israel Aerospace Industries, prime contractor of TecSar, said the images,
transmitted during a stormy night, were what the company termed "exceptional
quality."
"All the satellite's sub-systems work perfectly," IAI president Itzhak
Nissan said on Thursday. "This is a tremendous achievement that places IAI
in an exclusive and short list of satellite manufacturers around the world."
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The 300-kilogram TecSAR was launched into orbit on Jan. 21 on an Indian
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, Middle East Newsline reported. The launch was part of a space cooperation
agreement between India and Israel.
IAI deemed TechSAR the first synthetic aperture radar satellite in
Israel and one of the most advanced in the world. The platform contains an
SAR payload. The satellite has been controlled
and monitored by an IAI-based ground station.
Industry sources said TecSAR was capable of one-meter resolution in
high-resolution and 3-8 meters in strip mode. They said the
electronically-steered TecSAR, was designed to gather 40 images per pass of
a target.
