In order to maintain contact with Gaganyaan mission, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is going to launch data relay satellites.
Context
In order to maintain contact with Gaganyaan mission, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is going to launch data relay satellites.
About the mission
- The satellite will be launched before the final leg of the Gaganyaan mission, which will send astronauts to the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO).
- The first leg -- the unmanned mission -- is to be launched in December.
- Project costing: 800 crores
The need of relay data
- Satellites in orbit cannot pass along their information to the ground stations on Earth if the satellite does not have a clear view of the ground station.
- A data relay satellite serves as a way to pass along the satellite’s information.
NASA’s Relay Satellite
- The NASA, with a robust human space mission programme, also has its own data relay satellite.
- It’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite allows it to have global coverage of all the satellites round the clock without having to build extra ground stations on Earth.
- The ISRO uses several ground stations spread across the globe -- Mauritius, Brunei and Biak, Indonesia.
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