New Delhi: Officials in Indian intelligence, defence and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) are deeply dismayed at the government’s last-minute decision to put off the launch of India’s first spy satellite in October-November.

The Indo-Israeli satellite, with synthetic aperture radar (called TechSAR), would have boosted India’s intelligence-gathering abilities with its ability to shoot sharp images of even objects less than a metre in dimension. Reacting to Monday’s report in DNA on the abandonment of the launch, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told news agency PTI that the launch was not cancelled under American pressure.

“We are facing some technical difficulties. Once we overcome these, the launch will be scheduled,” Nair said. However, intelligence officials say the launch has been “dismantled” completely. This means the satellite cannot be fired into orbit in the immediate future even if the government reconsiders its decision. A senior official involved in scientific-technical matters told DNA: “Even if we start working again on the project from tomorrow, which is not going to happen, it will not take less than six months to assemble it again for the launch.”   

Intelligence circles are concerned about the lack of satellite intelligence in the context of disturbances in areas bordering Pakistan, and Chinese civilian work near the Arunachal Pradesh border.

Source : Agencies