Chennai: April 19, 2009 -  Aiming to enhance India's defence surveillance capabilities, ISRO is all set to launch its first Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) and micro educational satellite, ANUSAT, from its spaceport in Sriharikota at 6.45 am on Monday.

According to ISRO, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C12 (PSLV-C12) would carry the 300-kg RISAT-2 and 40-kg micro satellite, ANUSAT, built by Anna University.

RISAT, to be launched from Sriharikota on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh, some 80 km north from here, has all weather capability to take images of the Earth and would also be beneficial in mapping and managing natural disasters, such as floods and landslides, besides amplifying defence surveillance capabilities of the nation.

As per specifications, RISAT is different from previous remote sensing satellites as it uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), equipped with many antennas to receive signals that are processed into high-resolution pictures.

The SAR, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, gives RISAT defence capabilities.