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On September 20, 2004, India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) successfully launched EDUSAT, the country’s first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services. While this third consecutively successful launch unequivocally demonstrated the reliability and capability of GSLV to launch our communication satellites precisely into the specified orbit, the event also reiterated India’s commitment to use space technology for societal development.
The extension of quality education to remote and rural regions is a Herculean task for a large country like India with multi-lingual and multi-cultural population separated by vast geographical distances, and in many instances, inaccessible terrain. Since Independence, India has seen substantial increase in the number of educational institutions at primary, secondary and higher levels as well as the student enrolment. Lack of adequate rural educational infrastructure and non-availability of good teachers in sufficient numbers, however, adversely affect the efforts made in education.
Satellites can provide connectivity between urban educational institutions that have adequate infrastructure for imparting quality education, and a large number of rural and semi-urban educational institutions that lack necessary infrastructure. Besides supporting formal education, a satellite-based system can facilitate dissemination of information on important aspects like health, hygiene and personality development to rural and remote population. It can also enable professionals to update their knowledge base. Thus, in spite of limited trained and skilled teachers, the aspirations of the growing student population at all levels can be met through a satellite based tele-education system.
In fact, the concept of beaming educational programmes using satellites was demonstrated by India in 1975-76 through the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment(SITE) conducted using the American Application Technology Satellite (ATS-6). SITE was hailed as the largest sociological experiment conducted anywhere in the world. During this unique experiment, programmes pertaining to health, hygiene and family planning were telecast directly to about 2,400 Indian villages spread over six States. Later, with the commissioning of Indian National Satellite system (INSAT) in 1983, telecasting of a variety of educational programmes were started. In the 90s, the Jhabua Developmental Communications Project and Training and Developmental Communication Channel further demonstrated the efficacy of satellite-based tele-education.
With the success of educational services using the INSAT satellites, a need was felt to launch a satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conceived the EDUSAT Project in October 2002.
GSLV launched, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the 1,950 kilogram EDUSAT in the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. This orbit had a perigee or the nearest point to Earth at 180 km and an apogee or the farthest point to Earth at 36,000 km. The orbital plane was inclined at 19.2 degree with respect to the equatorial plane.
From Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), EDUSAT was taken to the required 36,000 km high circular Geo-stationary Orbit with zero degree inclination with respect to the equatorial plane. This orbit-raising manoeuvre was conducted by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor carried on board EDUSAT. In this orbit, the satellite has an orbital period of 24 hours and hence, it appears stationary with respect to any point on the earth. The satellite is located at 74 East longitude over the equator with two other Indian satellites, KALPANA-1 and INSAT-3C. The EDUSAT has been fully tested in orbit and it is functioning to specifications.
EDUSAT is specially configured for audio-visual medium, employing digital interactive classroom and multimedia and multi-centric system. The satellite has multiple regional beams covering different parts of India — five Ku-band transponders with spot beams covering northern, north-eastern, eastern, southern and western regions of the country. It has another Ku-band transponder with its footprint covering the Indian mainland region. Besides the Ku-band transponders, the satellite carries six C-band transponders with their footprints covering the entire country.
EDUSAT provides connectivity for school, college and higher levels of education and also to support non-formal education including developmental communication. While ISRO would provide the space segment for EDUSAT System and demonstrate the efficacy of the satellite system for interactive distance education, content generation is the responsibility of the user agencies. The quantity and quality of the content would ultimately decide the success of EDUSAT System. This involves an enormous effort by the user agencies.
To create awareness about the EDUSAT and its capabilities, ISRO, in cooperation with the user agencies, has organised several conferences at regional and national levels. A conference of vice-chancellors of Indian universities was organised jointly by ISRO and the Association of Indian Universities at Bangalore in July 2004. EDUSAT pilot projects have been undertaken using a Ku-band transponder on board INSAT-3B by the Visveswaraiah Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka, Y B Chavan State Open University in Maharashtra and Rajiv Gandhi Technical University in Madhya Pradesh. It would now be used in a semi-operational mode with at least one uplink in each of the five spot beams. About 100-200 classrooms would be connected in each beam. Coverage would be extended to two more States with one national institution in this semi-operational phase. The agencies expected to use EDUSAT in the near future include-National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Delhi; Nirma University, Ahmedabad; Anna University, Chennai; National Institute of Technical Teacher’s Training and Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh; Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati; Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Rourkela; and Association of Indian Universities.
In the fully operational phase of EDUSAT, end users are expected to provide funds for the EDUSAT network and ISRO would provide technical and managerial support in the replication of EDUSAT ground systems to manufacturers and service providers. In the final operational phase, it would be able to support about 25 to 30 uplinks and about 5000 remote terminals per uplink.
It is hoped that EDUSAT would herald a new era for a countrywide distance education in the coming months.(PIB Features)
**Secretary, Department of Space
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