IRS mission

Recognising the importance of satellite-based remote sensing systems for harnessing the natural resources of India. ISRO has undertaken the design and development of a series of Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) to provide remotely sensed data for applications in the . areas of agriculture, hydrology, geology. drought and flood monitoring, marine studies, snow studies and land use. As a first step to this. IRS-IA, launched i0n 1988 has been operationalised and has become the central element in the national natural resources management system. This paper highlights the various considerations. that have gone into, in deciding the mission parameters, sensors choice, spacecraft main-frame system and ground segment. Further, it gives a brief account of the performanc e of IRS-IA system and the follow-on satellites in the IRS series