French expand space cooperation with India

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French government posts space counsellor in Bangalore

The French government posted Mat Weiss as its space counseller with diplomatic rank in Bangalore to strengthen and expand relations between its space agency and the Indian space agency, headquartered here, an official said Monday.

"Weiss will liaison with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on regular basis as we implement the agreement signed by the two governments during the visit of President Francois Hollande to India in February," French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) president Jean-Yves Le Gall told IANS here.

The agreement envisages both the state-run agencies (CNES and ISRO) to explore means to pursue further cooperation, including joint missions, payloads and applications, exchange of young scientists and professionals in India and France and conducting thematic workshops.

"Besides launching two more Indian satellites - INSAT-3D in July-August and GSAT-7 in December from our spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana, we are in discussions with ISRO for more missions from India on the lines of Saral, Spot-6 and Megha-Tropiques, satellites that were launched in the recent past," Le Gall said ahead of his official meeting with ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan.

The 410 kg Saral was launched Feb 25 on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C20) from Indian spaceport Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh, about 90 km from Chennai, to study the sea surface heights and the data generated will be shared by both the countries.

Saral was the third Indo-French collaborative mission after Spot-6 and Megha-Tropiques satellites that were launched from India Sep 12, 2012 and Oct 12, 2011.

Saral's payloads Altika, an altimeter, will study the sea surface heights and Argos (advanced research and global observation satellite) will gather a variety of data from ocean buoys to animal behaviour.

"After Megha-Troiques was launched, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) scientists came to us to study climatic and atmospheric changes in the tropical regions. We have signed a tripartite agreement with ISRO and NASA to share the data," Le Gall said.

Saral also complements joint missions of NASA and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and that of CNES with the European Space Agency (ESA) for optimal utilisation of meteorological satellites.

As one of the most advanced and complex tropical weather and climate monitoring satellites, the one-tonne Megha-Tropiques investigates the tropical regions as they receive maximum energy from sun than they radiate back into space.

As the earth observational spacecraft, the 712 kg Spot-6 (Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) is an optical imaging satellite with capability to take pictures of the planet with 1.5-metre resolution
 

arnabmit

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INSAT-3D launched successfully | idrw.org

India's advanced meteorological satellite INSAT-3D was successfully launched by an European rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana early today, giving a boost to weather forecasting and disaster warning services.

European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launched INSAT-3D and Alphasat satellites.

Alphasat is Europe's largest telecommunication satellite-ever manufactured and results from a large-scale public-private partnership between the European Space Agency and Inmarsat.

The workhorse vehicle lifted off exactly on schedule at 1.23 AM IST from the Spaceport's ELA-3 launch zone in French Guiana for a nearly 33-minute flight.

This launch provided an excellent view of the flight's initial trajectory, as the Ariane 5 began its vertical ascent, then rotated East — arching over the Spaceport's main base area as it progressed downrange.

The flight path was visible between scattered cloud layers and the clear meteorological conditions enabled an excellent view of the launch's first phase — including separation of the two solid propellant boosters at an altitude of 67 km.

Alphasat was deployed first in the flight sequence, nearly 28 minutes after the liftoff.

Some five minutes later, Ariane 5 completed its mission with the successful separation of INSAT-3D, which carries a six-channel imager and 19-channel sounder, as well as a data relay transponder for satellite-aided search and rescue operations.

"I am happy to inform you that the Master Control Facility at Hassan in India has already received signals from INSAT-3D", Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan said minutes after the launch.

"We are looking forward to an excellent operational performance of INSAT-3D for the next seven years making a difference for the weather forecasting and disaster warning systems for the country", added Radhakrishnan, also Secretary in the Department of Space, in comments telecast live by Doordarshan.

Radhakrishnan did not travel to Kourou for the launch of INSAT-3D, designed to provide meteorological observation and monitoring of land and ocean surfaces.

According to ISRO, INSAT-3D adds a new dimension to weather monitoring through its atmospheric sounding system, which provides vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and integrated ozone from surface to top of the atmosphere.

The imaging system of INSAT-3D has significant improvements over that of KALPANA and INSAT-3A, the space agency said.

INSAT-3D will provide continuity to earlier missions and further augment the capability to provide various meteorological as well as search and rescue services.

INSAT-3D had a lift-off mass of 2060 kg.

INSAT-3D also carried the newly developed 19 channel sounder, the first such payload to be flown on an ISRO satellite mission.

The Data Relay Transponder (DRT) will be used to receive meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data from remote, uninhabited locations over the coverage area from Data Collection Platforms (DCPs) like Automatic Weather Station, Automatic Rain Gauge and Agro Met Stations.

India Meteorological Department and ISRO have established more than 1800 DCPs.

INSAT-3D is equipped with a Search and Rescue payload that picks up and relays the alert signals originating from the distress beacons of maritime, aviation and land based users to the Indian Mission Control Centre located at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network here.

The major users of Satellite Aided Search and Rescue service in India are Indian Coast Guard, Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Shipping, Defence Services and fishermen.

The Indian service region includes a large part of the Indian Ocean region covering India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Tanzania for rendering distress alert services.

[video=youtube_share;uc_II0ho8bI]http://youtu.be/uc_II0ho8bI[/video]
 

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