Cartosat-2D

Cartosat-2D is an Earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) and the fifth of the Cartosat series of satellites. The satellite is built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Cartosat-2D has a mass of 714 kg.

Satellite description
The satellite achieves three-axis stabilization through a combination of reaction wheels, magnetorquers and hydrazine-fuelled reaction control thrusters. Power is generated by a pair of solar panels, charging two lithium-ion batteries. The solar panels generate 986 watts of power when in Sun-pointed mode. The satellite is outfitted with an eight-channel GPS receiver for the calculation of instantaneous state vectors and orbital parameters. GPS is also used for GEO-referencing of acquired imaging data.

Instruments
The CartoSat-2D carries a panchromatic camera (PAN) capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. It also carries a High-Resolution Multi-Spectral (HRMX) radiometer which is a type of optical imager. The satellite has a spatial resolution of 0.6 metres. CartoSat-2D is also capable of capturing minute long video of a fixed spot as well, Event Monitoring camera (EvM) for frequent high-resolution land observation of selected areas.

Launch
It was launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), PSLV-C37, on 15 February 2017, at 03:58 UTC along with two Indian nanosatellites (INS-1A and INS-1B) and 101 nanosatellites belonging to research facilities in the United States, Kazakhstan, Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.