TIRUNELVELI
Asserting that Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists have located GSAT - 6A with which the ground stations lost control 24 hours after it was launched into the orbit on March 29, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan has hoped that contact with the satellite would be re-established soon.
Dr. Sivan told this to reporters at Palayamkottai on Sunday during an informal chat after laying foundation stone for the ₹83-crore satellite data receiving station on a land owned by INS Kattabomman opposite Government College of Engineering.
The ISRO Chairman said contacts with the satellites would usually get disconnected for a few minutes due to radiation or electromagnetic disturbances and re-established when the launch vehicles’ engines would be fired three or four times to take the satellite to the pre-determined path.
As GSAT – 6A, meant for military communications, had been located, the ground stations would re-establish the link with the satellite soon, Dr. Sivan said.
He also said ISRO was working on launching GSAT – 29 with GSLC Mk III D-2 into the predetermined orbit. This would ensure faster data communication and downloading.
On Chandrayan II, he said ISRO’s next mission, which was progressing well, would be taken up in October on a full moon day. Under this project, ISRO was planning to land a robot in moon. “A lot of tests are going on to make this mission a grand success and the tests are yielding encouraging results,” he said.
On strengthening ISRO’s ties with educational institutions, he said there were plans to share microchips with satellite data with educational institutions so that students could develop their own innovative projects for specific needs.
Though ISRO had established its signal receiving stations across the country, the upcoming major station in the south, which would be completed within a year, would come in handy for ISRO to receive quality signals even as the satellite was moving from the south to the north. “The forthcoming station will create employment opportunities for a good number of people,” Dr. Sivan observed.
