ISRO signs MoU for satellite mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French National Space Center (CNES) will jointly develop the atmospheric satellite mission Megha-Tropiques, which is expected to be launched by 2008-09.

ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair and CNES president Yannick d'Escatha have signed an MoU for the multi-million dollar project. Megha-Tropiques, derived from megha (cloud) in Sanskrit and tropiques (tropics) in French, will investigate the contribution of water cycle to tropical atmosphere and climate dynamics.

The satellite will be placed in an 867 km high orbit at an inclination of 20 degrees with respect to the equatorial plane to collect scientific data covering the tropical regions.

ISRO will build the spacecraft and launch the satellite using its polar satellite launch vehicle, while CNES will build the 1,000 kg payload.

An ISRO official said the spacecraft will cost about Rs 50 crore and the launch about Rs 60 crore. CNES is expected to spend about $40 million on the payload. It will be similar to Indian remote sensing (IRS) satellites.