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MAJOR DECISIONS AND INITIATIVES
SPACE
The UPA Government completes one year on May 21, 2005. During this period, the Government has taken several important initiatives. Some of these are being brought out in the series ‘Major Decisions and Initiatives’.
The year 2004-05 was an eventful one for Indian space programme.
CARTOSAT-1 Launch
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, CARTOSAT-1, has been successfully launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C6) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota. PSLV has launched the 1,560 kg CARTOSAT-1, along with a piggy back satellite, 42.5 kg HAMSAT, into a 618 km high Polar sun-synchronous orbit. CARTOSAT-1 with a capability to take imageries of 2.5 m spatial resolution is intended for generating three-dimensional maps. HAMSAT is to provide service to amateur radio operators.
Establishment of Second Launch Pad
A state-of-the-art Second Launch Pad (SLP) has been established at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota. SLP is configured as a universal launch pad capable of accommodating all the launch vehicles of ISRO including the advanced launch vehicle to be built in the next decade and beyond unlike dedicated pads elsewhere in the world mainly catering to a particular launch vehicle.
SLP uses the integrate-transfer-and-launch concept. The launch vehicle is integrated inside a permanent building called Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). After checkout, it is transported on rails to the launch pad using a Mobile Launch Pedestal (MLP). The vehicle is then interfaced with the Umbilical Tower and fuel-filling and checkout operations carried out. The launch takes place after the final countdown. SLP helps to increase the launch frequency by reducing the time for integration of the fully assembled vehicles and its launch.
SLP was built by involving Indian industry on a turnkey basis including design and engineering, procurement of systems and sub-systems, fabrication, erection and commissioning of facilities including civil works. SLP was used for the first time to launch PSLV-C6 with CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites on board during the first week of May 2005.
GSLV Launches EDUSAT
The launch of EDUSAT by the country’s own Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV, on September 20, 2004, demonstrates the country’s capability to design and build sophisticated space systems and the commitment to use space technology for developmental application. This was the first operational flight of GSLV in which it placed the 1950 kg EDUSAT into a precise predetermined Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
EDUSAT is intended for serving the educational sector to meet the demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system in the country. It will provide connectivity for school, college and higher levels of education and will also support non-formal education including developmental communication. It is specially configured for audio-visual medium, employing digital interactive classroom and multi-media, multi-centric system. Visvesvariah Technological University (VTU) Network with 100 nodes is being operated via EDUSAT.
Airdrop Test of Space-capsule Recovery Experiment
The airdrop test of the instrumented Space-capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) was successfully conducted on August 19, 2004 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. SRE is intended to demonstrate capability to recover an orbiting space capsule. The 500 kg SRE will be launched on board ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch vehicle (PSLV) during the second half of 2005-06. SRE will remain in orbit for a few days, during which it will be used to conduct experiments in micro-gravity environment and it will then be de-orbited and recovered using a parachute system. The SRE is important to test reusable thermal protection system, navigation, guidance and control, hypersonic aerothermodynamics, management of communication blackout, deceleration and floatation system, recovery, etc.
Satellite-based Village Resource Centres
ISRO has embarked upon setting up Village Resource Centres (VRC) with a view to integrate the capabilities of communication and remote sensing satellites to address the changing and critical needs of rural communities. VRC is a totally interactive VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) - based network to provide space enabled information related to land records, natural resources, sites for drinking water wells and for recharging ground water, wastelands that can be reclaimed, environment, infrastructure, alternate cropping pattern, and so on. VRCs will also provide a variety of services like tele-education, telemedicine, online decision support, interactive farmers’ advisory services, tele-fishery, e-governance services, weather services and water management. At the same time, VRCs will provide connectivity to speciality hospitals thus bringing the services of expert doctors closer to the villages.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the first cluster of three VRCs established jointly by ISRO and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in October 2004 connecting four villages in Tamil Nadu.
Telemedicine
The Satellite-based Telemedicine network has been expanded to connect 22 speciality hospitals in major cities to 78 hospitals in rural and remote areas including the Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and J&K. Tele-medicine facilitates expert medical services to population in remote areas by linking via INSAT hospitals and health centres in remote locations with super specialty hospitals to bring in connectivity between patients at remote end with specialist doctors for medical consultations and treatment.
International Telemedicine Conference
An International Telemedicine Conference, INTELEMEDINDIA 2005, was held at Bangalore in March 2005. This was the first time that an exclusive international telemedicine conference was organised in India. Astronautical Society of India supported mainly by ISRO organised the conference. Other Government of India Departments like Health and Family Welfare, Communication and IT, DRDO, Rural Development and Science and Technology also supported the conference. The main objective of the Bangalore conference was to create awareness on the technical, operational, social, ethical, financial and other related aspects of telemedicine. The conference provided a forum to discuss and arrive at appropriate recommendations for implementing telemedicine, particularly in developing countries, where the need is most felt. About 650 delegates including about 50 delegates from abroad attended the conference.
ASTROSAT
The Government has approved a project to design and launch a satellite, ASTROSAT, for astronomical science. ASTROSAT will involve several academic institutions in the country and will be dedicated to multi-wavelength studies of a variety of celestial sources and phenomena using a cluster of X-ray astronomy instruments and Ultraviolet (UV) imaging telescope. The launch is planned to be held in 2007.
India-US Conference on Space
The India-US Conference on Space Science, Applications and Commerce was held at Bangalore during June 21-25, 2004 with the objective of strengthening and expanding the cooperation between India and US in the field of space science and applications as well as related commercial activity. About 550 delegates including 200 from US attended the conference which culminated with the issue of a Vision Statement for enhanced cooperation between the two countries
Indo-French Satellite Mission -- Megha-Tropiques
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed in November 2004 with the French Space agency, CNES, for the development and launch of an atmospheric satellite, Megha-Tropiques. Megha-Tropiques is intended for investigating the contribution of the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics. India will build the Megha-Tropiques spacecraft and will also launch the satellite using its PSLV as well as maintain the satellite in orbit, receive, process and distribute the scientific data from the satellite. While two of the scientific instruments for the satellite will be designed and built by CNES, the third will be jointly built by ISRO and CNES. The launch of Megha-Tropiques is planned to be in 2008-2009.
International Lunar Conference
The Sixth International Lunar Conference was organised at Udaipur during November 22-26, 2004. The main objective was to discuss current results on lunar science, including questions regarding its origin and resources. The future prospects of creating a lunar base for planetary exploration and possible human settlement were also discussed. An Udaipur Declaration was issued at the end of the conference. The conference assumes significance in the context of India’s Chandrayaan mission slated for 2007-08.
Development of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)
ISRO, with the participation of Indian industry, has successfully developed Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) to be deployed in various parts of the country. AWS can be used in consonance with ISRO's INSAT-3A and KALPANA-1 satellites that are equipped with Data Relay Transponders to receive data from remote platforms deployed on ground, water bodies or sea. Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Department of Space has signed an agreement in March, 2005 with a private company for production and supply of AWS. With data collection from local levels and remote and inaccessible areas through AWS, weather forecasts and services can be improved significantly.
RK:LV
PIB SF-19 (12.05.2005)
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