India will host Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium from April 4 to 7 to discuss applications of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and bettering global climate change monitoring.
The symposium will be organised by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), a professional society of more than 4000 scientists and researchers and attended by the chief of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) among heads of several other space agencies, an ISRO official said.
It is expected to see participation of 100 foreign and 300 national scientists and researchers.
President of French National Space Agency, Vice-President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Vice-Administrator of China National Space Administration, Director General of EUMETSAT and Mexican Space Agency have committed their participation at the event, the official said.
The 2016 edition of APRS will focus on the applications of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and to better monitor global climate change. The deliberations of the symposium will generate new initiatives and collaborative international efforts, the official added.
Satellite fabrication requires high precision as these
birds cost hundreds of crores of rupees and after the launch they remain functional for up to 10 years with no scope for repair.
The space environment is very punishing and the untested fail miserably and space faring remains a high risk activity.
Annadurai thinks the ISRO is not taking any risk by relying on the private sector, adding, "I do not think it is a risk. It is basically an incremental improvement over what we have already done. When you look at NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) satellite system, except for the first satellite, on all the other remaining satellites more than 95 per cent of the systems that were flown basically came from industry."
"Similar thing is being done for this mission. For the first standby Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellite, we will be handholding the private team. Some 70 young engineers are there and they will be watching what we are doing and then at the end of the first satellite fabrication, the private team will come out with a document of what they have understood and how will they make the second satellite, this document will be audited by the ISRO's quality assurance team," he said.
And once the ISRO teams clears it and are convinced that the private team is really trained and they are equipped with the necessary skill sets, only then the second satellite fabrication they will do on their own.
"Hopefully, together we will be able to succeed because anyhow they are learning under our watch. So once they start to do one or two satellites like that, they will be able to take on making subsequent satellites totally on their own," he said.
India recently launched 104 satellites on a single mission, creating such a global sensation that an intelligence officer from the US expressed his "shock" at India's singular achievement and this paved the way for India's foray into the multi-billion dollar launch industry.
By supporting the private industry to learn the processes of making satellites, India hopes to create a robust space industry in the private sector. In the past the ISRO has designed and made a satellite for the Europeans and this new and bold move could in times pave the way for India being a global hub for the space sector.
Towards that a high-tech space park is almost ready at one of ISRO's newer satellite facilities in Bengaluru, and here the private sector could make the best of the best satellites.
Annadurai says once ready this space park will be unique since from the smallest components to the flight ready birds-- all will be made under one roof.
No other facility like this exists anywhere in the world, he insists.
India is regarded as a low cost and reliable space power.
Today for the first time a satellite is being fabricated in the private industry-- a giant leap for the ISRO and a giant leap for the Indian space industry.
So in the corner of an airtight room of India's satellite fabrication unit where even the smallest speck of dust is not allowed to enter, a giant breathe of 'private' fresh air has been ushered in.
