Satellites

60-plus LVM-3 rockets to be built with private sector's help: INSPACe chief

INSPACe has the mandate for promotion of the private space industry and also to authorise activities of non-government entities in the sector

Satellite connectivity: What is it, which phones support it, how it works

Mobile satellite connectivity enables a smartphone to establish a connection with a satellite network, providing communication in areas without cellular coverage

China successfully launches Pakistani satellite 'PRSC-EO1' into space

China successfully launched a Pakistani satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Friday. The satellite, named PRSC-EO1, was launched at 12:07 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The rocket also carried two other satellites - Tianlu-1 and Lantan-1. This launch marked the 556th flight mission involving the Long March carrier rocket series. China has been launching satellites for Pakistan in the last few years broadening their all-weather alliance into the space arena. Last year, China launched a multi-mission communication satellite for Pakistan. In 2018, China sent two Pakistan satellites into orbit. The PRSS-1, Pakistan's first optical remote sensing satellite, and the PakTES-1A, a smaller observation craft.

Pixxel, Digantara launch satellites to monitor earth, space objects

Two Indian space start-ups -- Pixxel and Digantara -- on Wednesday announced the launch of their satellites onboard a SpaceX rocket to closely monitor the earth and objects orbiting around it, marking a new era for the private firms in the space sector. Pixxel became the first private company in India to have its own constellation of satellites using the cutting-edge hyper-spectral frequency that allows observation of the earth in over 150 bands, a technology that is useful in sectors as diverse as agriculture and defence. Digantara Aerospace announced the launch of the world's first commercial satellite - Space Camera for Object Tracking (SCOT) - for surveillance of objects as small as 5 cm orbiting the earth to ensure safer space operations. Surveillance of outer space or situational space awareness (SSA) is important to ensure the safety of spacecraft as orbits around the earth become crowded with artificial satellites as well as space debris. Pixxel's three Fireflies, currently

SpaDeX satellites positioned 230 m apart, health status 'normal': Isro

The two Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites that the ISRO aims to unite in orbit are currently separated by a distance of 230 m, with their health status deemed 'normal', the space agency said on Saturday. On Friday evening, the satellites were separated by 1.5 kms. ISRO has said that the distance would be reduced to 500 m by Saturday morning. In a post on 'X', ISRO said, "Arrested at Inter Satellite Distance (ISD) of 230 m, all sensors are being evaluated. Spacecraft's health is normal." The space agency, however, has not committed to a date for conducting the docking experiments, which will bring the satellites together in space. The SpaDeX project has already missed two announced schedules for docking experiments on January 7 and 9. ISRO successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission on December 30. The PSLV C60 rocket carrying two small satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), along with 24 payloads, had lifted off from the first launchpad

Subscriber loss, price war to make recovery tough for pvt telcos in 2025

Private telecom operators face twin challenges on investment recovery in the New Year customers leaving their network after tariff hikes and satellite players mainly Elon Musk's Starlink eyeing a chunk of their bread and butter data business. Private operators have invested around Rs 70,000 crore in telecom infrastructure and radiowave assets this year to expand the coverage of next-generation 5G services which is one of the main highlights of 2024 for the sector. To recover investments and protect margins, private telcos resorted to tariff hikes in mid-year but that move backfired. Around 2 crore subscribers dropped their connections. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea jointly lost 2.6 crore customers due to a 10-26 per cent price hike. Around 68 customers switched to state-run player BSNL which refrained from price hike. The loss-making PSU still offers generation-old 3G service and is on the path of rolling out 4G network across the country. Despite subscriber loss,

Govt's push for home-grown satellite constellation gets 30 aspirants

The regulator had sought "expressions of interest" (EoI) in July to build home-grown satellite constellations as part of a broader strategy to monetize the sector and ensure data sovereignty

No satellite spectrum allocation on first-come, first-served basis: Scindia

Scindia said there is a scientific argument and then an economic argument linked to the spectrum allocation

TakeMe2Space set to launch India's first AI laboratory in space

The mission will demonstrate real-time data processing in orbit, making space research more affordable and accessible

Satellite spectrum wars: No auction, foreign companies likely to benefit

Despite domestic telcos' insistence, earlier legal judgements have only called auction 'preferable' in the case of natural resources

Centre rejects satellite spectrum auction; Elon Musk says much appreciated

Earlier, Elon Musk had criticised Mukesh Ambani's auction proposal for satellite services as "unprecedented", while advocating for a direct licensing method of allocation

Pixxel hopes to deliver satellites for Indian Air Force by mid-2025

The Indian Air Force (IAF) may launch satellites procured from space start-up Pixxel by mid-2025, giving a boost to its capabilities to keep vigil on the country's borders and beyond. The IAF has signed a contract with the Bengaluru-headquartered Pixxel Space founded by young entrepreneurs Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal of BITS Pilani, while they were pursuing higher studies. "We should have that satellite up in space before the end of 2025, but likely we are aiming at mid-2025," Ahmed said in an interaction with PTI editors here. He said the task of Pixxel was to manufacture the satellite and hand it over to the IAF, which will operate the spacecraft. "In the case of the Indian Air Force for iDEX, we are not concerned with what the operations are. The operations will be mainly for looking at borders, looking at illegal testing, illegal growth and things like that. But we are not going to be operating the satellite," he said. Innovations for Defence Excellence, an initiative o

Japan launches Earth observation satellite on its new flagship H3 rocket

Japan deployed an upgraded Earth observation satellite for disaster response and security after it was launched on a new flagship H3 rocket Monday. The H3 No. 3 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Centre on a southwestern Japanese island and released its payload about 16 minutes later as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said during a livestream. The Advanced Land Observation Satellite, or ALOS-4, is tasked primarily with Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapmaking. It's also capable of monitoring military activity, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by the Defence Ministry. The rocket appeared to fly as planned, and JAXA is expected to give further details at a news conference later Monday. The launch was initially planned for Sunday but was delayed due to bad weather at the launch site. The ALOS-4 is a successor to the current ALOS-2 and can observe a much wider area. Japan will operate both

SpaceX launches first batch of satellites for new US spy constellation

SpaceX is building hundreds of satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office, an intelligence agency

Taiwan pursues homegrown satellite network amid rising tensions with China

With Beijing's persistent claims over Taiwan and threats of military action, the need for an autonomous communication infrastructure is paramount

Satellite monitoring shows 27% glacial lakes in Himalayas expanding: Isro

More than 27 per cent of the identified glacial lakes in the Himalayas have notably expanded since 1984 and 130 of those are in India, ISRO said on Monday. In a statement, the space agency said long-term satellite imagery covering the catchments of Indian Himalayan river basins from 1984 to 2023 indicates significant changes in glacial lakes. "Of the 2,431 lakes larger than 10 hectares identified during 2016-17, 676 glacial lakes have notably expanded since 1984," it said. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said 601 of the 676 lakes have expanded more than twice while 10 lakes have grown between 1.5 to two times and 65 lakes 1.5 times. It said 130 of the 676 lakes are situated within India, with 65, seven, and 58 located in the Indus, Ganga and the Brahmaputra river basins, respectively. An elevation-based analysis revealed that 314 lakes are located in the 4,000-5,000-metre range and 296 above 5,000 metres. The glacial lakes are categorised based on their formation proces

Elon Musk's satcom firm Starlink may soon get approval from Centre: Report

The Digital Communication Commission, an inter-ministerial panel and the highest decision-making body of the DoT, is likely to address the Starlink case ahead of the Tesla chief's visit to India

Android 15: Google might allow two-way-messaging over satellite in Messages

Apple already has satellite connectivity on iPhones, but it is limited to emergency services. Google, on the other hand, might allow two-way-messaging over satellite in its RCS-powered Messages app

Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to Intl Space Station

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station blasted off Saturday, two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute. The spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus launched smoothly from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. The launch had been planned for Thursday but was halted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff. The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source. The space capsule atop the rocket separated and went into orbit eight minutes after the launch and began a two-day, 34-orbit trip to the space station. If the launch had gone as scheduled on Thursday, the journey would have been much shorter, requiring only two orbits. Docking is now expected at 1510 GMT Monday. The three astronauts were to join the station's crew consisting of NA

China launches signal relay satellite for mission to far side of moon

The moon's near side always faces Earth. That means data transfers from the far side are impossible as there is no direct line of sight