Five days after successfully executing an anti-satellite weapon test, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully executed the launch of its first electronic surveillance satellite, EMISAT, aboard the PSLV-C45 medium-lift launch vehicle. The EMISAT, which stands for Electromagnetic Intelligence Satellite, will drastically improve surveillance and satellite imagery to boost the arsenal for India’s Armed Forces, and comes on the back of a heightened stand-off between India and Pakistan that nearly threatened to boil over.The launch took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 9:27am on Monday, April 1. Also on board with the EMISAT were 28 other guest satellites that formed the secondary payload for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), with 24 of them being from USA, and the remaining hailing from Lithuania, Spain and Switzerland. The EMISAT gives India sharper teeth in electronic intelligence (ELINT), which in turn bolsters the nation’s defensive firepower.The EMISAT is a 436kg cuboid spacecraft that has since been deployed into orbit at 748km altitude. Confirming the launch and deployment, an ISRO press statement revealed, “Two solar arrays were deployed automatically. The ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration.”India’s first ELINT satellite was developed jointly in over five years by ISRO and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), under the latter’s Project Kautilya. EMISAT will be able to scan the ground for electromagnetic signals to intercept hostile radar signals as well as other electronic broadcast frequencies. It is sensitive to the Ka band of the electromagnetic frequencies of radar spectrum, ranging up to 40GHz. This reportedly gives it the ability to scan through practically any terrain obstruction to detect signal anomalies, and alert defend systems well in advance while delaying the enemies by intercepting transmission.The EMISAT now joins India’s array of dedicated military satellites, including the CARTOSAT-2 series satellites that have so far been used in planning India’s surgical strikes in response to Pakistan’s terrorist attacks on Uri and Balakot. Alongside bolstering India’s defence forces, ISRO also demonstrated the reusability and versatility of its PSLV fourth stage, which was used in this mission. It also happened to be one of ISRO’s longest missions, including three different stages of deployment and lasting for nearly three hours.
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