India-France TRISHNA Satellite Mission 2027: Objectives, Features, Payloads & Instruments

India and France are set to launch the TRISHNA satellite in 2027. It will help both countries track water stress, crop health, and urban heat. ISRO officials say the satellite is in the final stages of development, with launch likely by 2027 or early 2028.

What is the ISRO-CNES TRISHNA Mission?

1. TRISHNA stands for Thermal Infra-Red Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural Resource Assessment. 
2. It is a joint Earth-observation mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French space agency CNES. 
3. It will be launched on India’s PSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The mission is designed to run for five years, till about 2032.
4. The payloads are shared between India and France.

Objectives of the TRISHNA Mission

1. Agriculture and water: Track crop water stress, evapotranspiration, irrigation efficiency and drought, supporting food and water security.
2. Urban climate: Study urban heat islands and local microclimates.
3. Ecosystems and water cycles: Monitor water quality in coastal and inland waters, glaciers, snow cover and snow-melt runoff, and the energy and water budgets of the land.
4. Other uses: Detect thermal anomalies linked to volcanic activity and geothermal resources, and provide data on aerosols, atmospheric water vapour and cloud cover.

TRISHNA Mission Will Carry Two Instruments

1. Thermal Infra-Red (TIR): Built by CNES, it maps heat emitted from the Earth’s surface and the temperature of land and oceans.
2. Visible-Near Infra-Red and Short-Wave Infra-Red (VSWIR): Built by ISRO, it studies surface features, vegetation condition and atmospheric properties.

Satellite TRISHNA Orbit and Resolution

1. The satellite will fly in a polar Sun-synchronous orbit at about 761 km altitude.
2. It will give roughly 57 to 60 metre resolution over land and coastal areas, and about 1 km resolution over oceans and polar regions. 
3. It revisits the same place every 3 to 8 days, and about every 3 days near the equator. This detail helps scientists watch changes in farm fields and local ecosystems.

What Is Sun-Synchronous Orbit?

A Sun-synchronous orbit is a near-polar orbit in which the satellite passes over a given place at the same local solar time on every pass. TRISHNA crosses at around 12:30 PM, so lighting conditions stay consistent and images taken on different days can be compared reliably.