India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has scheduled the launch of a new spy satellite for 0930 local time on 1 April. The electronic intelligence monitoring satellite (EMISAT) has been designed by the Indian Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). In January 2019, ISRO launched a defence imaging satellite (Microsat R).
The increasing miniaturisation of spy satellites has meant that more and more nations are able to enter what was once a very specialised field of intelligence gathering. The rocket that carries EMISAT will also carry 28 other satellites: 24 from the US, 2 from Lithuania, and one from Spain and Switzerland – although it is believed that these will be conventional, not spy, satellites.