Category: Satellite

Avenues in space The smooth launch of India’s home-grown 1858-kg radar imaging satellite RISAT-1 by means of XL version of the four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on April 26 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), the Indian spaceport in Sriharikota Island on India’s eastern coast, is considered a major boost to India’s defence […]

Boosting capsule In a major boost to the Indian space programme, GSAT-10, the heaviest ever Indian satellite, was successfully placed into orbit on September 29 by means of the Ariane-5 vehicle of the European space transportation company, Arianespace, from the Kourou launch complex in French Guiana. The 3,400-kg GSAT-10, described as an advanced Indian communications […]

Boosting cooperation In the context of growing frequency of Indian space missions including ambitious plans for deep space planetary probes and manned flight, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is seriously exploring the possibility of roping in the Indian industry in a big way for the production and delivery of communications satellites and India’s only operational […]

Command from space Satellites meant for a variety of end uses which serve as ‘eyes and ears’ from the commanding position of outer space, have now become indispensable for sustaining the strategic superiority of defence forces keen on realizing their mission goals, speedily and efficiently. Indeed, space resources are being considered a ‘force multiplier and […]

Eye in space After indulging in port diplomacy with India’s neighbors China is now engaged in Space diplomacy with them. This has caused jitters in Indian security establishment, which incidentally was not caught off guard. Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh had floated global Request for Proposal for acquiring communication satellites and the relevant Indian departments […]

Mission scaling Space age, which was heralded by the launch of Soviet Sputnik way back in 1957, had its genesis in the deep rooted human quest to unravel the ‘secrets and mysteries’ of the cosmos. However, with the passage of time, the strides in space technology started unfolding its potentials for many down to earth […]

Probing journey In what has been considered a major boost to the Indian planetary exploration programme, the Government of India has approved the Indian mission to the Red Planet Mars expected to cost more than US$80-million to the exchequer. India’s Space Commission had okayed the Mars Mission in December 2011. Against this backdrop, Indian Space […]

News Highlights     The concept of “small is beautiful” popularized by the British economist E F Schumacher seems to be influencing the satellite development sector in a big way. With the idea of small, mini, micro and nano satellites catching on, even resources poor developing countries with a not so well evolved  technological and industrial […]

Slow pitch For, way back in 1963 when India took her first step into space with the setting up of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in the fishing hamlet of Thumba on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the South Indian state of Kerala, US made available Nike Apache sounding rockets to […]

Vital synergy India needed an effective Command and Control organization over its nuclear weapons because of various international and regional concerns in the immediate aftermath of the nuclear tests in 1998. It is high time now to review whether India has been successful in establishing a robust Command and Control organization. There is no doubt […]