ISRO Successfully Brings Down Cartosat-2 To Earth’s Atmosphere 17 Years After Its Launch

Seventeen years after its launch, Cartosat-2, the first of ISRO’s second generation of high-resolution imaging satellites primarily used in urban planning has been deorbited, the agency announced February16.

“Cartosat-2… bid adieu with a descent into Earth’s atmosphere on February 14, 2024, as predicted,” an ISRO statement said, adding that analysis indicated all of its components would have disintegrated.

According to the statement, the satellite, launched on January 10, 2007 and weighing 680 kg, operated in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 635 km. It performed 14.78 orbits around Earth in a day.

Until 2019, the satellite equipped with over 12,000 coupled charged devices used its “panchromatic and multispectral cameras” to generate high-resolution images that were extensively used for urban planning, monitoring of road networks and water distribution, creation of land use maps, among others.

According to ISRO, Cartosat-2’s natural de-orbiting phase was initially estimated to be around 30 years since launch, but given its lowering onboard fuel, it was decided to lower its perigee — the point of its orbit at which the satellite is closest to Earth— from 635 km to 380 km in 2020.

On February 14 this year, the orbit was further lowered to 130 km before it was finally deorbited, facilitating its re-entry over the eastern regions of the Indian Ocean.

“This involved reducing collision risks and safe end-of-life disposal of the satellite,” the ISRO statement said. The ISRO team at the System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations in Bengaluru coordinated this de-orbiting exercise.

With the skies becoming more crowded due to the entry of private players, experts are worried about an increasing threat from space debris, which poses a collision risk for satellites, especially in low-Earth orbit.

Source: Indian Express