According to the MoD's annual report of 2013-14, Kautilya for space borne ELINT System involves the development of Electronic Intelligence payload for integration on an indigenous mini satellite

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to launch 29 satellites from the US, Lithuania, Spain and Switzerland including EMISAT next week on Monday. This is the first time that the Indian space agency is attempting to launch these satellites in three different orbits.

The main objective of the launching of EMISAT which is based on ISRO’s Indian Mini Satellite – 2 (IMS-2) bus platform is to measure the electromagnetic spectrum and to read the location of radar emitters, both ground and naval. The 47th mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C45 has been scheduled to take off early morning around 9.30 AM from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with the satellites on board.

Simply put, the PSLV -C45 rocket will put EMISAT into an orbit 749 km from the Earth’s surface, and other satellites in orbit at an altitude of 505 km.

EMISAT, weighing 436 kg, is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement and will be placed in an orbit of about 753 km altitude. The customer payloads include 24 of the US, two from Lithuania and one each from Spain and Switzerland, which will be put into into space at an altitude of about 505 km.

According to Ratan Shrivastava, Adviser, Space Division, FICCI, “ The EMISAT has been developed for monitoring radar network by India. EMISAT is a small satellite weighing approximately 436 kgs and developed by DRDO (DLRL Hyderabad) under Project KAUTILYA.”

“It is an ELINT satellite based on IMS2 Bus (Indian Mini Satellite Bus series) which can have a maximum launch weight of 450 Kgs with a payload no more than 200 Kgs. It shares the same Bus architecture as the HySIS satellite launched in November 2018. It is likely to be placed in an elliptical orbit in order to optimise the dwell time, for a required area under observation,” Shrivastava explains.

According to ISRO Chairman K Sivan, in this special mission, PSLV rocket with four strap-on motors will be used and this will be the first time for ISRO will be trying to orbit the rocket at three different altitudes.

What is Project KAUTILYA?

According to the MoD’s annual report of 2013-14, Kautilya for space borne ELINT System involves the development of Electronic Intelligence payload for integration on an indigenous mini satellite.

The ELINT includes recordings and analysis of intercepted signals and helps create an RF signature of a radar which can in turn be used for locating and quickly identify the radar in subsequent encounters.