[FPSPACE] First Israeli-built SAR satellite slated to be launched by India this week

[Chris Jones]

robot at esper.com wrote:
> Forgive the dumb question - I'm too lazy to look up the background
> data.
> 
> IIRC, the Ofeq-series of spysats mass in at /circa/ 300 kg, and fly
> in somewhat retrograde polar orbits. They were put up by Israeli
> rockets from Israeli territory, and they paid a heckuva launch
> penalty. Nevertheless, they did that. Now, according the article, the
> Tecsar is in the same mass range and presumably would fly in a
> similar orbit. (Perhaps that assumption of mine is mistaken.)

I *think* this is mistaken, but it doesn't simply seem to be an assumption
of yours.  Gunter's space place describes the orbit as 550 km, 143 degree
inclination, which is about what launches from Israel's territory follow,
to avoid looking like a missile launch over Arab or other unfriendly
countries.  Another source I found described the orbit that way, and threw
in that it was a sun-synchronous orbit with a repeat cycle of 36 days.  I
don't think that last statement can be true; a sun-synchronous orbit at that
inclination has a much higher altitude (I didn't bother figuring out its
repeat cycle).  I also find it hard to believe that a launch from the east
coast of India is going to overfly India, a territory which hardly qualifies
as sparsely inhabited.  I also don't see the advantages of a sun-synchronous
orbit for a radar satellite.  It seems to me that a straight polar orbit
might be advantageous, but I really expect that we haven't yet heard the
true story on this satellite's orbit.  To quote Randy Newman out of context,
"I could be wrong, but I don't think so."