Chandrapur to host India’s first space debris monitoring radar under ISRO’s Project Netra

Guwahati, Apr 3: Visiting the proposed site for Project Netra (Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis) – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites – at Chandrapur, ISRO chairman Dr V Narayanan on Wednesday said the premier space agency intends to make operational one radar within this financial year.

It will be a first-of-its-kind project in India and is being planned in the 200-bigha land of the defunct thermal power plant in Chandrapur. Project Netra involves the establishment of a network of observational facilities, including optical telescopes, radars and a command centre.

"We are coming in a big way. Though a network of radars, we are going to monitor all the objects in space," Dr Narayanan, who was accompanied by State Science & Technology Minister Keshab Mahanta and other senior officials, said.

The radars will be able to detect up to 10-cm radius objects up to 2,000 km. The radar system at Chandrapur is likely to be commissioned in four years' time.

Currently, India has to depend on data from North American Aerospace Defence Command and other available sources for information on space debris that may harm satellites, but those are not accurate. Through its Project Netra, ISRO seeks to establish an observation system and become part of a global network and access precise data.

The ISRO chairman on Tuesday evening had a meeting with top officials and Mahanta and discussed the state government's plan to have its own satellite. "The ISRO chairman assured all help and support. After getting his views, we can now prepare our action plan," Mahanta said.

By

Staff Reporter