Forex

June 20 Flying high on its recent success of placing 10 satellites into space at one stroke, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is looking ahead to a busy schedule for the next 18 months.

It has six major launches, starting with perhaps the most challenging Chandrayan I (moon mission), which is expected in September.

While September 19 is definitely the first date identified for the launch, a final decision would be taken after all the preparedness reviews are completed, the ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, said.

Following Chandrayan I, will be about 5 launches in 2009. These include RISAT (Radar Imaging Satellite), ASTROSAT (Astronomy Satellite), the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques and two commercial launches, he told newspersons on the sidelines of a technology event organised by the Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (APAS), here today.

Mr Nair refused to be drawn into commenting on either the need for a unified space command or the allegations of involvement of an NRI scientist in passing secrets to the ISRO and defence establishments.

Asked if the Indo-French Joint Mission called Megha-Tropiques, now scheduled for launch in 2009, was delayed, Mr Nair said “No. Some of the technical problems have taken time to be sorted out and it is ready for launch. The project costs around Rs 120 crore”.

The Megha-Tropiques project aims to study the water cycle and energy exchange in the tropics. A tie-up with NASA-JAXA has been forged to carryout a global precipitation mission to understand the atmospheric physics of the tropics better.

Earlier, delivering the National Technology Day lecture on Space perspective, Mr Nair said “India would maintain the leadership position in earth observations, communications and navigation satellite systems”.

The increasing launch orders from abroad and the fact that Antrix Corporation has logged nearly Rs 1,000 crore business on space-based products vindicate the growing strength of India in the global space arena, he said.