A data relay satellite will be launched soon by the Indian Space Research Organization.
Sources have revealed that this satellite will help in maintaining connectivity after launch during the Gaganyaan mission. The satellite will launch before the final stage of the Gaganyaan mission, with astronauts to be sent to the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO). The first unmanned mission, ISRO, is scheduled to launch in December this year.
A source associated with the project said, “We plan to launch our own satellite into space before the first human space flight, which will act as a data relay satellite.”
It has come to light that this Rs 800 crore project has been approved and work is being done on it. ISRO wants India to have its own communication network before sending the first manned spacecraft.
If the satellite installed in the earth’s orbit does not get a clear view of the ground station, then it will not be able to send the information to the earth. A data relay satellite is needed in the middle, which is placed in the lower orbit and is near the ground station. It has its own data relay satellites with the US space agency NASA’s Human Space Programs, which helps in global coverage of all its satellites.
Agencies around the world working on space projects use ground stations to monitor their satellites and collect data from them. Such stations are built in different parts of the world. ISRO also uses a number of ground stations spread around the world, including Mauritius, Brunei and Bayak, Indonesia. India can set up a ground station in the Cocoa Islands by talking with the Australian counterpart for the Gaganyaan mission.
India is completing 75 years of its independence in the year 2021 and this year ISRO plans to send its first manned mission to space. In this mission, the crew of three astronauts will be sent to space for five to seven days. The mission will be completed in several phases and preparations will be initially tested by launching unmanned, which is scheduled to begin in December 2021.
