TES: The Indian “Third Eye” in the Sky

10 Dec, 2001    ·   654

Lt Col AK Sharma comments on the military application of the Technology Experimental Satellite
Lt Col AK Sharma
The Kargil Report critique pertaining to poor surveillance of the Line of Control (LoC) has accelerated the Indian effort at surveillance from outer space. This is evident from placing the Technology Experimental Satellite (TES) into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) by a PSLV-C3 rocket fired from the Sriharikota range on 22 October 2001.

 

 

The SSO slot enables the TES to cover a specified area repeatedly on successive passes anywhere on the planet earth. Thus, it is able to snap variations from earlier passes. This is of great help to photo-interpreters on the ground as they will be able to spot changes. 

 

 

With the TES in orbit, India enters the big league in strategic remote-sensing. It now has the means to photograph objects with the resolution of one square meter any where in the world. Till now, only the US military and the American Space Imaging Company’s IKONOS satellite possessed this capability. 

 

 

One meter geometric resolution has many military applications: nuclear and missile sites can be pinpointed with exact coordinates, types of large ordnance can be traced with ease, as also details of aircraft on airfields, and insurgent camps and training facilities across the border can be located in ten-figure grid references.  Spin-offs for the commercial market are also plentiful; any one in a position to defray the costs can get photographs of cities and townships, population centers, road arteries and even major events.

 

 

Indian military planners would now be in a position to fulfill the requirements of the first three stages of the military imaging cycle of detection, identification, recognition, and description in respect of Class A (tanks/armoured fighting vehicles and infantry carrying vehicles) and Class B ( trucks/lorries) military vehicles. However, for analysis of smaller targets, for example, to distinguish between a subunit of troops and insurgent gangs on the move, or to make out the caliber of a tank gun or an artillery piece, cameras of even finer resolution of as low as two centimeters are required.

 

 

For an all weather capability, the onboard cameras of the TES need to be given a thermal imaging backing. Providing the cameras with a system capable of focusing on objects down to as tiny as two square centimeters will fine-tune the analysts’ capability to the desired practical applications in day-to-day operations. Some US and Russian military satellites are known have such high grade resolution. 

 

 

The United States military has to fall back on commercial IKONOS satellite-imagery for satellite snap-shots of areas of vital interest to it. They have bought the entire time of the IKONOS eye in space for Operation Enduring Freedom. This enables them to confirm information from their own military satellites and simultaneously the same facility is denied to inimical agencies. 

 

 

The TES is a major breakthrough for the Indian military. It would enable them to identify an intrusion taking place on our borders and to take counter-measures. The chances of any future Operation Badr by Pakistan ought to be detected in time. Veerappan and his brigand-bands will also find it hard to operate under such surveillance. At the same time, money can also be made on the domestic and international markets by putting the ordered product on offer to carefully screened customers.

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