Spy satellite faces even longer delay
Sanjay Singh & Josy Joseph
Daily Nes & Analysis (India) Tuesday, December 04, 2007 03:48 IST
www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1137106

US pressure sets back launch possibility by at least another 6 months

NEW DELHI: Officials in Indian intelligence, defence and the Indian Space
Research Organisation (Isro) are deeply dismayed at the government's
last-minute decision to put off the launch of India's first spy satellite in
October-November.

The Indo-Israeli satellite, with synthetic aperture radar (called TechSAR),
would have boosted India's intelligence-gathering abilities with its ability
to shoot sharp images of even objects less than a metre in dimension.

Reacting to Monday's report in DNA on the abandonment of the launch, Isro
chairman G Madhavan Nair told news agency PTI that the launch was not
cancelled under American pressure.

"We are facing some technical difficulties. Once we overcome these, the
launch will be scheduled," Nair said.

However, intelligence officials say the launch has been "dismantled"
completely. This means the satellite cannot be fired into orbit in the
immediate future even if the government reconsiders its decision.

A senior official involved in scientific-technical matters told DNA: "Even
if we start working again on the project from tomorrow, which is not going
to happen, it will not take less than six months to assemble it again for
the launch."

Intelligence circles are concerned about the lack of satellite intelligence
in the context of disturbances in areas bordering Pakistan, and Chinese
civilian work near the Arunachal Pradesh border.

With winter setting in, the intelligence and security establishment has to
keep a close watch over any buildup on the other side of the border using
aerial reconnaissance rather than any other means.

The spy satellite could have provided invaluable data in terms of
"space-based surveillance" with sharp images.

The TechSAR satellite would have provided India with its first access to
cutting-edge, all-weather aerial surveillance.

Under the arrangement, Israel was to pay Isro a fee for launching its
TechSAR, but the images shot by it were to be made available to India.

The launch was abandoned literally on the launch pad, after it was mounted
on a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), under American pressure.

If TechSAR had been available during Kargil, a major crisis could have been
averted. "During Kargil operations, we had to approach some European firms
to buy aerial pictures of the area.

In the first place, it was the absence of sub-metre, all-weather imagery
that resulted in intruders sneaking into Kargil. If we have access to
TechSAR imagery, a lot of our trouble would be resolved," one intelligence
source said.

Another official said the images available from the existing Indian Remote
Sensing satellites and those taken from spy planes were not good enough.

"Clouds and dust storms have been hampering a lot of our aerial imagery
efforts. Besides, none of them can provide sub-metre sharp pictures.

We have been looking forward to inputs from synthetic aperture radars, which
we were told would be available soon," another source said.