TATA First Earth Observation Satellite: Launched By SpaceX
By: Geetanjali
Tata Sons’ fully owned subsidiary Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) in collaboration with Satellogic, on Monday April 7, 2024 announced the launch of TSAT-1A which is an earth observation satellite.
Launched by Elon Musks’ SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. This is India’s first private sector- built sub metre resolution earth observation satellite also known as surveillance satellite.
Satellogic in an official post on X congratulated both TASL and Satellogic teams for their amazing work in the successful mission.
Launch success! 🚀Communication has been established with TSAT-1A satellite🛰️, launched into a mid-inclination orbit during the Bandwagon-1 mission on #SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
Read more about the launch and its importance in our press release: https://t.co/PsNbRCsMc0… pic.twitter.com/hfAO6qjVtp
— Satellogic (@Satellogic) April 8, 2024
This is a first step for TASL in space sector!
Built in India TSAT-1A First Sub-metre Resolution Optical Satellite Reaches Orbit.
We announce the successful launch and deployment of TASL’s TSAT-1A satellite aboard the Bandwagon-1 mission by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket 🚀. pic.twitter.com/T8Zg1Thpo3
— Tata Advanced Systems (Tata Aerospace & Defence) (@tataadvanced) April 8, 2024
Sukaran Singh, CEO and MD of Tata Advanced Systems Limited, in his official statement on X said, that “ This milestone shows TASL’s commitment to the space sector. This is a first step.
Our partnership with Satellogic has enabled us to deliver an assembled and tested in India, best-in-class, sub-meter optical satellite which was launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for the Bandwagon-1 mission. We are grateful for the support we have received from various Indian Government authorities for required permission”.
— Tata Advanced Systems (Tata Aerospace & Defence) (@tataadvanced) April 8, 2024
TSAT-1A is a low earth orbit satellite, and weighs around 50 Kg. Being a low earth orbit satellite its allows frequent visits to the area of interest as compared to the satellites placed in the Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO)
Assembled and Tested in TASL’s manufacturing facility in India in Karnataka. It will focus on delivering high resolution satellite images with low waiting time, it will be majorly used by the armed forces for security purposes.
In his statement CEO and MD Sukaran Singh cleared that initially the satellite will cater to the needs of the government and military and will later expand on to the commercial market.