Bharti group-backed OneWeb and New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, have entered into an agreement that will help ensure OneWeb completes its satellite launch programme. The first launch with New Space India is expected in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. The launches will add to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications firm OneWeb's total in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites -- 66 per cent of the planned total fleet -- to build a global network that will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity.
Billionaires are not only eyeing a profit as they push mankind out into the stars.
It appears India will be among those nations consigned to being among the watchers and not participants of this crucial phase, observes Aakar Patel.
ISRO hopes to put a crew on the moon, but it has to learn how to keep people alive and healthy in space first.
'Gaganyaan' is set for December 2021 launch and is likely to include a woman astronaut.
China, a relative newcomer to the space age, has topped the list of countries contributing to space debris, reports to a study by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The first Gaganyaan flight scheduled for 2022 will carry three astronauts, who will be picked from among the test pilots in the armed forces.
Progress M-27M/59P is carrying three tonnes of supplies for the astronauts on the International Space Station.
The ongoing experiments on Moon, Mars and elsewhere could translate into better crop yields and hardier plants that could thrive in inhospitable parts of the world, says Devangshu Datta.
'If the almost literally heart-stopping Suez block has any positive outcome, it is to be hoped that it will accelerate the setting up of a fab (perhaps Taiwanese) in India,' asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
Bharti Global is planning to put up more satellites and has set a stiff deadline to launch commercial Internet services by October in the UK, Alaska, northern Russia and northern Europe.
There appears to be uncertainty over availability of a lander from Russia even as the 'desi' rocket to launch the space odyssey would take time to become operational.
The weight of the space station is likely to be 20 tonnes.
Once ISRO masters the technology to send humans into space, the next step will be experimenting with technologies allowing humans to live in space.
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The 56 and-a-half hour countdown for the launch of India's first space mission to Mars, slated for November 5, commenced on Sunday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Here's a look at the events that shaped the world last week.
Ahead of India's Mars orbiter's scheduled rendezvous with the red planet on September 24, ISRO is all set for the crucial fourth trajectory correction manoeuvre and test fire of the main liquid engine on the spacecraft on Monday.
The International Space Station has completed 15 years of continuous human presence.
