Cartosat-2D is an ISRO Earth-observation satellite that photographs the ground in fine detail from a sun-synchronous orbit. It was the main passenger on PSLV-C37, the February 2017 flight that carried 104 satellites.
Cartosat-2D carries a panchromatic (black-and-white) camera and a multispectral (colour) camera.
ISRO uses its pictures for mapping, urban and rural planning, coastal land-use regulation, road and water-supply networks, land-use maps and spotting changes on the ground.
It weighed 714 kg at launch. ISRO describes it as similar to the four earlier satellites of the Cartosat-2 series.
Starting with Cartosat-2C, the series added a multispectral camera and moved to a lower orbit of about 505 km for sharper ground detail.
PSLV-C37 lifted off from the First Launch Pad at Sriharikota on 15 February 2017 at 9:28 IST, flying in its 'XL' form with solid strap-on motors. It placed Cartosat-2D and 103 co-passengers into a 505 km polar sun-synchronous orbit.
The co-passengers were 101 foreign nanosatellites (96 from the United States, the rest from Kazakhstan, Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UAE) and two Indian nanosatellites, INS-1A and INS-1B.
The public satellite catalogue carries Cartosat-2D with an operational flag, in an orbit of about 504 × 512 km.