India to develop and launch 26 satellites indigenously

 The Dollar Business Bureau The Government of India, in its latest release on Wednesday, informed that India is currently focusing at indigenous development of satellites and also said that it would use the satellite technology for development of rural areas. According to the official release, the country is intended to develop 26 indigenous satellites under 12^th Five Year Plan (2012-17), while it also informed about the country’s 27 satellites that are currently under operation. The release further says that the 26 indigenous satellites include 6 Communication satellites, 13 Earth observation satellites, 4 Navigation satellites and 3 Space science satellites. Whereas the currently operating 27 satellites include 11 Communication Satellites, 12 Earth Observation Satellites, 3 Navigational Satellites and 1 Mars Orbiter Mission.  Speaking at the meet, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, said that during the last three years from January 2012-Februrary, 2015, India has successfully launched 24 satellites consisting of 11 Indian satellites and 13 foreign satellites. The countries that contributed to the 13 foreign satellites to India include France, Japan, Canada, Austria, Denmark, Germany and Singapore. Of these countries, Canada hold the major share by providing 4 satellites in total, followed by France (2), Austria (2), followed by others which hold a single number share. The Minister also informed about the Indian satellite that is going to be launched next month. Stating that India has gained perfection in launching of satellites and the space technology in the recent months, the Minister hoped that India would also take lead in launching satellites for SAARC countries and also informed that many other small countries of the world are looking at India for this purpose. Further stating that India has proved its perfection in weather forecasting by adopting accurate prediction methods of natural calamities like cyclone, among others, the Minister said that India has got larger scope for the implementation of satellite technology. In this regard, he added that the usage of satellite technology would definitely favour rural India and the government is keen on immediate implementation of such technology for the development of rural areas.  

This article was published on February 25, 2015.