India has always recognised that space isa dimension that goes beyond national considerations and can only be addressed along with international partners. India has made important strides in space cooperation with other countries. Internationally, India is viewed by space faring nations as an emerging space power capable of achieving its goals in a cost effective and time-bound manner. Developing countries look to India for assistance in building up their capabilities to derive benefits of space technology.
Formal co-operative arrangements are currently in place with space agencies of 33 countries and three multinational bodies, namely, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Egypt, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts( ECMWF), the European Organisation for Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites( EUMETSAT), the European Space Agency( ESA), France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Norway, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Venezuela. The areas of co-operation address, mainly, remote sensing of the earth, satellite communication, launch services, telemetry and tracking support, space exploration, space law and capacity building.
ISRO’ s maiden mission to the Moon, the Chandrayan-I, has been an exemplary example
ISRO shares its expertise and satellite data for the management of natural disasters, satellite imagery, etc. of international cooperation with its international payloads. It has also earned several national and international laurels and was instrumental in the ISRO-NASA joint discovery of water molecules on the moon surface, something not achieved by any of the previous missions of this kind. ISRO and NASA are also collaborating for India’ s next Mars Orbiter Mission and in the building of a dual-band Synthetic Aperture Radar( NISAR).
With France, joint missions Megha- Tropiques and SARAL were carried out. Further, ISRO is developing an Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope( UVIT) with the Canadian Space Agency, planned as part of ISRO’ s ASTROSAT. India also plays an active role in deliberations on scientific and technical space issues at various international platforms including the UN. ISRO shares its expertise and satellite data for the management of natural disasters, satellite imagery, etc. It conducts courses in Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System( GIS), satellite communication, satellite metereology, Space Atmospheric Science and Global Climate at the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Asia and the Pacific( CSSTE-AP) which has been set up in India under the auspices of the UN.
In May 2017, ISRO launched the South Asia Satellite( SAS) as part of its efforts to build goodwill in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation( SAARC). The SAS was built by ISRO as India’ s gift to its neighbours for providing crucial information on telemedicine, tele-education, banking and television broadcasting opportunities. It is also equipped with remote sensing state of the art technology which enables collection of real-time weather data and helps in observations of the geology of the South Asian nations.
From launching 104 satellites at one go, enabling commercial roll out of lithium-ion batteries, to taking the lead in providing energy security, ISRO is firing on all cylinders. Apart from planning for manned missions to the Moon, Mars and even aircraft development, ISRO is now working on a plan to help India meet its energy needs using resources from the Moon by 2030. The premier space agency, credited with launching 225 satellites till date, plans to mine the Helium-3 rich lunar dust, generate energy and transport it back to Earth. Given these developments, the future of the Indian space programme looks as bright as a shooting star.
2018 • INDIA-OMAN • 39