INDEPENDENCE DAY SPECIAL ISRO UNLOCKING THE FINAL FRONTIER...

International Collaborations

ISRO has actively engaged in international collaborations through the years, sharing expertise and technology. Through its missions, ISRO has also garnered praise and recognition from around the world. International cooperation has been part of the Indian space programme since its inception. Establishment of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), the conduct of Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) and Satellite Telecommunication Experiment Project (STEP), launches of Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE), IRS-IA, IRS-IB satellites, INSAT series of satellites, Mission to Moon, etc, have the components of international cooperation.

India’s successful launch of the first-ever South Asia Satellite (SAS) to boost communication and improve disaster links among its six neighbours “opened up new horizons of engagement” in the region and helped it carve a unique place for itself in space diplomacy. Built by ISRO and funded entirely by India, the Geostationary Communication Satellite-9 (GSAT-9) was launched on board GSLV-F09 rocket. The six countries included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. ISRO also collaborates internationally in disaster management and provides satellite data support to neighbouring countries.

Recent international visits of India’s Prime Minister and the collaborations that have come out of those visits have highlighted the strong base that ISRO’s past accomplishments have built for the nation globally. During the US visit, India signed the Artemis Accords. NASA and ISRO are also working on advanced training for Indian astronauts and a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation. Set to launch in early 2024, NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) project is being jointly developed by NASA and ISRO to track movements of Earth’s land and ice surfaces in extremely fine detail. Two major components of the NISAR satellite have been combined to create a single spacecraft in Bengaluru, India. During PM’s France visit led to joint declarations and agreements on several space-related projects between ISRO and CNES.

Defence

Space has been a dual-use domain and space technologies especially in terms of communication satellites as well as Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services along with other technologies have always found usage in defence services. NavIC was developed partly because access to foreign government-controlled global navigation satellite systems is not guaranteed in hostile situations, as happened to the Indian military in 1999 when the United States denied the Indian request for Global Positioning System (GPS) data Kargil region.

ISRO’s Mission Shakti, a collaboration with DRDO, placed India in an exclusive league of countries with anti-satellite (A-SAT) capabilities. In a groundbreaking achievement, India successfully shot down a low-orbit earth satellite at 300 km altitude from the earth’s surface. The entire operation continued from page 8 took merely three minutes, showcasing India’s indigenous space defence prowess.

ISRO also initiated Project NETRA, the Network for space object Tracking and Analysis, serves as an early warning system in space, detecting debris and potential hazards to Indian satellites. Its ultimate goal is to monitor the geostationary orbit at 36,000 km, where communication satellites are positioned.

ISRO’s focus on research and development (R&D) plays a crucial role in developing new space technologies and applications, expanding human understanding of outer space, demonstrating human spaceflight capability, as well as aiding India’s socioeconomic development. As indicated in India’s new Space policy, ISRO will concentrate on R&D and creating innovative platforms, approaches, and improvements for launch vehicles and satellites.

Over the decades, ISRO’s research and development efforts have been instrumental in achieving national development goals. It has been instrumental in furthering the country’s economy through collaborations, self dependency in many technological advances, and diplomacy that strengthens the country’s global position collaboration. Thus through various ways ISRO has been key in making India self reliant on earth and beyond. SP