ISRO Launches Risat-2, Anusat

[Satellite Today 04-21-09] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched two new Indian satellites, Risat-2 and Anusat, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, ISRO announced April 20.
    Risat-2 is a radar imaging satellite with the capability to take images of the earth during day and night as well as cloudy conditions. At the time of launch, RISAT-2 weighed about 300 kg and was jointly manufactured by ISRO and Israel Aerospace Industries. This satellite will enhance ISRO’s capability for earth observation, especially during floods, cyclones, landslides and in disaster management in a more effective way.
    The micro ANUSAT satellite was built by Anna University, Chennai. ANUSAT is the first experimental communication satellite built by an Indian University under the over all guidance of ISRO and will demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations.