India launches mapping satellite
Satellite can track every house and street in this nation of more than 1 billion people.
The Cartosat-1, carried by an indigenous rocket, signals an advanced effort by India to get into the lucrative business of satellite launch services and to use space technology for rural and urban development.
State-run Doordarshan television reported that the rocket carrying the 3,300-pound satellite blasted off from the spaceport village of Sriharikota.
A version of the launch rocket, called the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, will also be used in India's first mission to the moon expected in 2007 or 2008. Cartosat-1, which is intended to reach an orbit of about 385 miles above earth, represents the highest payload carried so far by the PSLV.
The satellite mounted with two cameras for stereographic imaging can take photos of cars on the ground, though not their number plates. It can capture visual features down to 8 feet, 2 inches across, officials of the Indian Space Research Organization said.
India, which has launched 10 remote sensing satellites since 1988 in addition to several broadcast satellites, aims to use Cartosat-1 to help urban and rural planning, land and water management, relief operations and environmental assessments.