ISRO to set up first overseas Ground Station in the North Pole
The Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) is planning to set up its first overseas Ground Station. This ground station will be located in the North Pole.
It has already been two years since China has established a ground station in the North Pole. The overseas ground station is being set up primarily to augment the Indian Remote Sensing(IRS) operations. These operations are crucial for civilian needs like disaster management. Apart from this, they also act as a very important asset for the armed forces.
ISRO has an IRS programme with the National Remote Sensing Centre(NRSC) in Hyderabad. They manage data collection, processing, aerial remote sensing and support for disaster management.
One of the ISRO scientists said, “The plan will take some time to materialise as it involves huge logistical challenges, international approvals and co-operation.” It is quite evident that hardware installation will be tougher in the North Pole due to the extreme weather conditions.
Another one of the scientists elaborated the need for the ground stations. There have been advancements in high-resolution satellite programs of IRS. Due to this, the complexity and role of the ground stations have increased many folds.
The scientist added, “This ground station will provide an opportunity to download complete data within the same orbit and enable the use of onboard resources in every orbit.”
Meanwhile, ISRO was supposed to establish a second data reception antenna. This was to be done at the Antarctica Ground Station for earth observation satellites this year. This task has been postponed for the upcoming year.
In the next seven months, ISRO is preparing to conduct 19 launches. This also includes the much-anticipated Chandrayaan – 2 mission.
It seems that after the initial procrastination with the Chandrayaan- 2 mission, ISRO is now gearing up to make some headway in the development of the space research program.
