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India to launch Indonesian satellite

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Sept 18, IRNA -- India`s Antrix Corporation Limited 
concluded a contract for commercial launching of a satellite of the 
National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Indonesia. 
According to a press release of the Indian Ministry of External 
Affairs, a copy of which was received by IRNA earlier Saturday, 
Antrix Corporation Limited, a marketing arm of the Department of 
Space, concluded a contract for commercial launching of the 
LAPAN-TUBSAT, a 50-kilogram satellite of the National Institute of 
Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Indonesia on the PSLV. 
The satellite will piggyback on the PSLV along with an Indian 
satellite during the last quarter of 2005 or early 2006. 
The launch service is to be provided by Antrix Corporation 
Limited at a price which compares well with what Indian Space and 
Research Organization (ISRO) competitors offer for launches of 
micro-satellites. 
Four satellites for Germany, Korea and Belgium have so far been 
launched by Antrix on a commercial basis and contracts have been 
entered into for launching of two more satellites (Singapore and 
Europe) next year. 
LAPAN has in the past provided a location for establishing ISRO`s 
ground station in Biak, Indonesia to support tracking of GSLV launches
and operational manpower to maintain the station. 
Indian space scientists have traveled a long way since the 
beginning of their space trek that began four decades ago. 
The country`s space program has been well orchestrated since its 
inception. ISRO made a modest beginning in 1963 when it launched a 
small sounding rocket from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram, in the 
southern Indian state of Kerala. 
It then went through an experimental and demonstration phase in 
the `70s when it conducted large-scale experiments like the Satellite 
Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) and Satellite 
Telecommunication Experiments Project. Simultaneously, it built 
experimental rockets like he Aryabhatta and Bhaskara. 
Those small Indian satellites and rockets were the forerunners of 
the more powerful, sophisticated and complex satellites and satellite 
launch vehicles or rockets that were commissioned in the `80s and 
which today form part of the ambitious Indian space program. 
The IRS series of satellites are considered the best civilian 
remote sensing satellites. Remote sensing data from these satellites 
are being used for estimating agricultural crop acreage and yields, 
ground water location, forest cover survey, wasteland mapping 
for possible reclamation, snow melt run-off estimates, mineral 
prospecting, identification of potential fishing zones, urban 
planning and environment monitoring. 
Four IRS spacecraft -- IRS1C and IRS1D and the two experimental 
ones IRS-P3 and IRS-P4 -- have now proudly found their places in the 
sky. 
India`s capability to build and operate world-class, remote- 
sensing satellites has brought in commercial benefits for it. 
Data from its IRS satellites are now being sold to several 
countries, including the US, European nations, Japan, Korea, Thailand 
and Middle East countries. 
The INSAT system is one of the largest domestic communication 
satellite systems in the world. 
The country has had three generations of INSAT satellites, of 
which two -- INSAT2E and INSAT3B -- are now in operation. Since it was
first commissioned in 1983, the INSAT system has vastly improved 
telecommunications, television broadcasting, radio networking, 
meteorology and disaster management services. 
INSAT satellites have also helped harness space technology for 
grassroots-level applications -- for example, the Jhabua Development 
Communication Project (JDCP) that started in November 1996, the 
extensive Training and Development Communication Channel (TDCC) of 
INSAT, and the program for education and training in remote rural 
areas with INSAT3B. 
India has matched its strides in satellite technology with 
similar advances in satellite launch vehicle technology. 
The sounding rocket from Thumba helped ISRO scientists design the 
Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) to place small 40-kg satellites in 
orbit. 
The SLV was followed by the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle 
(ASLV) that can launch 150-kg satellites into space. 
ASLV paved the way for the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch 
Vehicle (PSLV) that can launch 1000-kg IRS satellites and the 
latest GSLV that can launch 2000-kg INSAT class satellites. 
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