Ever since PM Modi “unlocked” the Indian space sector in June 2020, over 60 firms have registered with ISRO, according to Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh. While some start-up concepts have focussed on nanosatellites, launch vehicles, ground systems and research, “quite a few” of them are involved in projects relating to space debris control.
On Monday, at the ISRO Control Center in Bengaluru, Singh officially launched the ISRO System for Safe & Sustainable Operation (IS4OM).
At the inauguration of IN-SPACe Ahmedabad in June this year, the Prime Minister notably declared: “When the strength of government space institutions and the zeal of India’s private sector meet, not even the sky will be the limit.”
The Union Minister underscored the same at the IS4OM launch: “The Department of Space’s ability to safeguard India’s space interests by building all-round capabilities in the fields of space transportation, debris control, infrastructure and applications must be allowed optimal growth.”
According to Singh, the IS4OM service will help India reach its SSA (Space Situational Awareness) objectives by giving users thorough and timely information on the space environment. This multi-domain awareness platform will provide timely, precise, and actionable information on on-orbit collisions, fragmentation, atmospheric re-entry risk, space-based strategic intelligence, hazardous asteroids and space weather forecast.
The facility is designed holistically to ensure safety and sustainability while gaining the advantages of sustainable space utilisation for national development, the minister highlighted.
Identifying and monitoring other operational spacecraft with close approaches, having an overpass over the Indian region, intentional manoeuvres with dubious intentions, and re-entry within the Indian region are just a few of the strategic implications of space situational awareness activities, he added.
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