6
NEWS ONEWEB TURNS TO ISRO FOR SATELLITE LAUNCH
OneWeb, the low-earth orbit satellite communications company has inked a pact with NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), an ISRO commercial arm, to launch its satellites from Sriharikota spaceport by year-end. The launch will add to OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites, 66% of the planned total fleet, to build a global network that will deliver high-speed, low-latency
connectivity. The announcement follows a series of sanctions slapped on Kremlin over Ukraine invasion. Three days prior to the launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Dmitry Rozhogin, Roscosmos director-general, threatened to ban OneWeb satellites from flying aboard Soyuz rockets if the UK government didn’t give up its stakes in OneWeb, which did not happen.
PARL PANEL BATS FOR REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR MONITORING IRRIGATION PROJECTS
GEOSPATIAL ARTHA Volume 01 » ISSUE 01
Abandonment by Russia and censured within the UK impelled OneWeb to explore alternative options. The company chose to launch from its rival company Space X falcon rocket. After Space X, NSIL is the second company with which OneWeb has signed an agreement. In the past three years, NSIL has launched 45 global satellites aboard ISRO’s PSLV, generating a revenue of $35 million.
The Public Account Committee (PAC) – a parliamentary standing committee, has made recommendations to the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Water Resource) to use satellite imageries from the National Remote Sensing Centre to effectively monitor irrigation projects. The committee, in its report, pointed out financial irregularities related to the accelerated irrigation benefits program (AIBP). Under this project, the Central government provides financial aid to state governments to speed up the implementation of irrigation projects. “The committee feels that the effective use of satellite imageries and ground information will go a long way in monitoring irrigation potential and therefore, desires that the ministry should take all possible steps to effectively reduce the variations between satellite imageries and field verifications by working with the remote sensing authorities” the report said. The PAC observed that the project implementation is not up to the mark due to inordinate delay in detailed project reports (DPRs). Money allocation to a project without a DPR also raised eyebrows.
