An earth-observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and ISRO that will help study Earth's land and ice surfaces in greater detail is all set to be shipped to India later this month for a possible launch in September. ISRO Chairman S Somanath visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the US state of California on Friday to oversee the final electrical testing of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite before being shipped to India. This mission will be a powerful demonstration of the capability of radar as a science tool and help us study Earth's dynamic land and ice surfaces in greater detail than ever before, Somanath said at the formal send-off ceremony organised at the JPL which was attended by senior scientists from the two space agencies. Later this month, the SUV-size payload will be moved into a special cargo container for a 14,000-kilometer flight to the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. ISRO and NASA joined hands in 2014 to build the 2,80
"Today we come one step closer to fulfilling the immense scientific potential NASA and ISRO envisioned for NISAR when we joined forces more than eight years ago," Somanath said
Asteroid 2023 BU whizzed past without incident and back out into space
Japan successfully launched a rocket on Thursday carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite on a mission to watch movements at military sites in North Korea and improve natural disaster response. The H2A rocket, launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., successfully lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, carrying the IGS-Radar 7 reconnaissance satellite as part of Tokyo's effort to build up its military capability, citing growing threats in the East Asia. The satellite later successfully entered its planned orbit, Mitsubishi Heavy said. The Intelligence Gathering Satellite can capture images on the ground 24 hours a day and even in severe weather conditions. Japan launched the IGS program after a North Korean missile flyover of Japan in 1988 and aims to set up a network of 10 satellites to spot and provide early warning for possible missile launches. The satellites can be also used for disaster monitoring and response. The government wil
Russia should increase the number of satellites in orbit from about 200 now to at least 1,000 by 2030, said Yury Borisov, Director General of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos
A modified jumbo jet carrying a Virgin Orbit rocket took off from southwestern England Monday, marking the first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from Western Europe. Hundreds gathered for the launch cheered as the repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, took off from Cornwall late Monday. Around an hour into the flight, the plane will release the rocket at 35,000 feet (around 10,000 meters) over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland. The rocket will then take nine small satellites for mixed civil and defense use into orbit, while the plane, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returns to Cornwall. If successful, the mission will mark the first international launch for Virgin Orbit, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson. The company, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, has already completed four similar launches from California. In the past, satellites produced in the U.K. had to be sent to spaceports in other countries to ma
The South Korean science ministry on Monday warned that a retired US satellite could possibly fall on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity
A 38-year-old retired NASA satellite is about to fall from the sky. NASA said Friday the chance of wreckage falling on anybody is very low. Most of the 5,400-pound (2,450-kilogram) satellite will burn up upon reentry, according to NASA. But some pieces are expected to survive. The space agency put the odds of injury from falling debris at about 1-in-9,400. The science satellite is expected to come down Sunday night, give or take 17 hours, according to the Defense Department. The California-based Aerospace Corp., however is targeting Monday morning, give or take 13 hours, along a track passing over Africa, Asia the Middle East and the westernmost areas of North and South America. The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, known as ERBS, was launched in 1984 aboard space shuttle Challenger. Although its expected working lifetime was two years, the satellite kept making ozone and other atmospheric measurements until its retirement in 2005. The satellite studied how Earth absorbed and radi
Qualcomm and global satellite communications company, Iridium, have entered into an agreement to bring the satellite-based connectivity to next-generation premium Android smartphones
France will provide Poland with two observation satellites and a receiving station under a deal sealed Tuesday in Warsaw which Poland says will help its armed forces recognise threats early. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, after meeting with his French counterpart Sbastien Lecornu, announced that they approved an agreement between Airbus and the Polish Armament Agency on equipping the Polish army with two reconnaissance satellites. Blaszczak said the agreement represented a good opportunity to strengthen our capacity for the early detection of threats. The Polish Armament Agency put the total value of the deal at 575 million euros ($612 million) and said the launch of the satellites into space would be completed by 2027. The Polish Defence Ministry said that thanks to the satellites, its military will be able to obtain reconnaissance data with an accuracy of 30 centimeters (nearly a foot). Blaszczak called it an early-warning system against both military and civilian ..
North Korea will "finish the preparations for the first military reconnaissance satellite by April 2023"
The Minister's announcement came after Iran and Russia on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to expand space industry cooperation
For demonstrating commitment to sustainable construction, the Satellite Centre of PGIMER in Punjab's Sangrur has been declared a winner in the GRIHA Exemplary Performance Competition
SWOT will cover the entire Earth's surface between 78 degrees south and 78 degrees north latitude at least once every 21 days
A US-French satellite that will map almost all of the world's oceans, lakes and rivers rocketed into orbit Friday. The predawn launch aboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California capped a highly successful year for NASA. Nicknamed SWOT short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography the satellite is needed more than ever as climate change worsens droughts, flooding and coastal erosion, according to scientists. "We're going to be able to see things that we could just not see before ... and really understand where water is at any given time, said Benjamin Hamlington at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. About the size of an SUV, the satellite will measure the height of water on more than 90 per cent of Earth's surface, allowing scientists to track the flow and identify potential high-risk areas. It will also survey millions of lakes as well as 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometres) of rivers, from headwater to mouth. The satellite w
Microsoft announced that it has partnered with global communications company Viasat to deliver satellite internet access to 10 million people across the world by 2025
Company says its technology helps in all-weather imaging without atmospheric interference
India will be the first country to auction spectrum for satellite communication, and it should be designed to attract investments in the sector, telecom regulator Trai chairman PD Vaghela said on Tuesday. Speaking at a Broadband India Forum summit on SatCom, Vaghela said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will soon make recommendations to make permissions required for satellite communication from various ministries -- Information and Broadcasting, Space and Telecom -- seamless to enhance ease of doing business in the sector. He also said Trai has received a reference from the Department of Telecommunication for the spectrum required to be put to auction and associated aspects of satellite-based communication. "I think India will be the first to handle the issue of auctioning the space base spectrum. We are working on it," Vaghela said. Trai will be coming out with some sort of model for the auction of space spectrum, he added. "But it should not kill the sector. That
This is OneWeb's 15th launch till date and second since it resumed its campaign with a launch from India in Oct
NavIC is an independent regional navigation system covering Indian landmass and 1,500 km from Indian boundaries