logo
Andhra CM, Jagan congratulate ISRO on NISAR satellite launch

Andhra CM, Jagan congratulate ISRO on NISAR satellite launch

The Print30-07-2025
'My congratulations to the scientists who successfully launched the NISAR satellite, a joint effort by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA, through the GSLV-F16 launch vehicle,' said Naidu in a post on X.
The Chief Minister hailed the successful collaboration between ISRO and NASA for NISAR and the use of GSLV-F16 for this mission.
Amaravati, Jul 30 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday congratulated ISRO on the successful launch of NISAR–NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite.
The successful launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Tirupati district is a matter of pride for us as Telugu people, he said.
This highly powerful earth observation satellite is immensely useful, said the CM, adding that the progress India is achieving in the fields of science and technology is a symbol of our self-confidence.
Reddy also extended his congratulations to ISRO on the launch of GSLV-F16 for the flawless delivery of NISAR into orbit.
'Best wishes to all the scientists and teams involved in this remarkable achievement,' Reddy added.
PTI STH ROH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Born out of bitter Kargil lesson, NavIC was India's answer to GPS. Why it's still struggling to take off
Born out of bitter Kargil lesson, NavIC was India's answer to GPS. Why it's still struggling to take off

The Print

timean hour ago

  • The Print

Born out of bitter Kargil lesson, NavIC was India's answer to GPS. Why it's still struggling to take off

Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the navigation system appears to be slipping from its initial promise. It had become imperative for India to invest in the technology back in 1999, when its request to access GPS data for enemy locations in the Kargil region was denied. The incident prompted the government to press for a strategically designed home-grown navigation system. Only four of 11 NavIC satellites are currently in use with the capability to provide position, navigation and timing services, Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha last month. The remaining four are being used for one-way message broadcast, one has been decommissioned, and two could not reach their intended orbit. New Delhi: India's satellite navigation system, the answer to US' GPS network, was built at a cost of $525 million with the aim of weaning the country from dependence on foreign powers. It was a bitter lesson learned during the Kargil War in 1999. But, nearly 26 years after it was conceived, India is still struggling to bring a functional version of Navigation with Indian Constellation or NavIC to the market. But since then, something or the other has been going wrong for India's NavIC which is yet to be fully functional regionally. 'Too much is riding on it and we cannot abandon it,' Ajey Lele, deputy director general at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), told ThePrint. Adding, 'We initially faced issues with the atomic clocks from Europe, after which India started making its own atomic clocks. Then we faced issues with ground equipment. And finally, we recently had a failed mission where the satellite could not be placed in orbit. Things have been going wrong, but we cannot give up.' Currently, at least five countries have their own fully operational navigation systems—US' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, European Union's Galileo, China's BeiDou and Japan's QZSS. 'NavIC will be crucial in advancing India's defence capabilities, identifying enemy locations up to 1,500 km radius around India's borders,' former ISRO chief A.S. Kiran Kumar told ThePrint. He was at the helm when the space agency was shaping the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), whose next generation series is known as NavIC. 'The service covers the entire Indian region and also the region extending up to 1,500 km around India on dual frequencies in L5 and S bands,' a senior ISRO scientist said. L5 and S bands are radiofrequency bands used in satellite navigation communication. Such precision will help ensure accuracy of more than 20 metres in any weather condition. Also Read: DRDO eyes persistent high-altitude surveillance edge as Stratospheric Airship soars in maiden trial Setbacks and revival plans With IRNSS, the plan was to first develop the system on a regional scale that would operate only within and till a certain radius around the country's boundary. The NavIC now is meant to be operational within and up to 1,500 km radius of India but is envisioned to be a global satellite navigation system in the future, on par with GPS, Galileo and BeiDou. The first satellite (IRNSS 1A) was sent up on 1 July, 2013. In the following missions, IRNSS 1B, 1C, ID, IE, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, and 1K were launched. Speaking to ThePrint, a senior ISRO scientist said that currently, 1B, 1F, 1I and 1J satellites are fully operational. 1C is partially functional. 'From the next generation navigation satellites, which come under the NVS series, 1J is operational. 1K, now known as NVS-02 (launched this year), was not successful,' he said. NavIC faced one of its biggest setbacks earlier this year with the 'partial failure' of the NVS-02 mission. Early this year, ISRO launched the mission (also incidentally the 100th mission by the space agency) from Sriharikota to place the second navigation satellite under the NavIC series into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. But it could not be placed successfully. This was not the first hurdle for India's navigation satellite ambitions. In 2016, Kiran Kumar had announced that atomic clocks on IRNSS 1A had become dysfunctional. He, however, said that this did not have an impact on the overall functioning of the navigation system. At the time, the space agency stressed that the remaining six satellites in orbit were functional, but admitted that some hardware issues had been detected in the rubidium atomic clocks in some of them. Unfortunately, IRNSS 1H satellite, launched on 31 August, 2017, to replace 1A, could also not be inserted into the desired orbit. According to ISRO, a heat shield, which protects the satellite, could not be detached on time during the launch. ISRO is now banking on a series of planned missions to resuscitate NavIC. These include placement of the next set of satellites, NVS-03, NVS-04 and NVS-05, in space to boost the navigation network and bridge the gap set by the current non-functional ones. 'NVS-03 is planned to be launched by the end of 2025. Subsequently, with a gap of six months, NVS-04 and NVS-05 will be launched,' Jitendra Singh said in his Lok Sabha response. ISRO chairperson, V. Narayanan, told ThePrint last week that NVS-03 and NVS-04 are likely to take flight by the end of this year, and NVS-05 would likely launch in 2026. 'No mission is foolproof. There is always some chance of failure. NavIC is functional, but we will improve its functioning with more satellites in the coming years,' he said. NavIC-compatible phones In 2022, the government had directed major phone manufacturers to design NavIC-compatible phones for India, but there was major pushback from the industry. The government said that by 1 January, 2023, all phone models for release in India should support NavIC, stressing that the deadline was not 'hard and fast'. Phone companies said that their production costs would surge significantly with this directive. However, between 2023 and 2025, new models of the most popular phones, such as those released by Apple, Oppo, Xiaomi, OnePlus, etc, are NavIC compatible. The government has since issued repeated directives to mobile phone manufacturers to make devices compatible with NavIC. NavIC's potential does not stop with a civilian navigation system or for defence and security purposes. For civilian use, NavIC will be able to do anything that a GPS or GLONASS can, according to its mission document. Once NavIC is fully functional, anyone with a phone designed for India, within 1,500 km radius of the Indian border, would be able to access the navigation system. 'A lot of the newer phone models are already compatible with NavIC. It is currently developed as a regional navigation system, but we will be able to expand it as a global system as we get more satellites up,' Kumar told ThePrint. (Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui) Also Read: India will soon have its own satellites to monitor spy satellites. How the technology works

Why August's Moon Is Called Sturgeon Moon: Know Its Significance
Why August's Moon Is Called Sturgeon Moon: Know Its Significance

NDTV

time2 hours ago

  • NDTV

Why August's Moon Is Called Sturgeon Moon: Know Its Significance

The Sturgeon Full Moon is a traditional name given to August's full moon. The name represents the abundance of sturgeon fish in the Great Lakes region of North America during this time of year, according to TimeandDate. The lake sturgeon is a remarkable fish which can live up to 55 years (males) or 150 years (females). It can grow over 2 meters long and weigh around 90 kg. "The name Sturgeon Moon comes from the giant lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain; this native freshwater fish was readily caught during this part of summer and an important food staple for Native Americans who lived in the region. At one time, the lake sturgeon was quite abundant in late summer, though they are rarer today," according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. The Center for Native American Studies stated that it's called the Wild Rice Moon by the Anishinaabe people. According to NASA, it is known as the Green Corn and Grain Moon elsewhere in North America. This full moon is also known as the Corn Moon, Lynx Moon or Lightning Moon in different cultures. In Hindu traditions, it marks the festival of Raksha Bandhan, which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. Sturgeon Moon 2025 Facts Sturgeon Moon 2025 Date and Visibility: This year, the Sturgeon Moon will peak on August 9 at 07:54 UTC. The Moon will appear full for about three days, from August 8 to August 10. It will be visible in the eastern sky at sunset and in the western sky before sunrise. Sturgeon Moon 2025 Planetary Alignment: On August 9, Venus and Jupiter will appear close together in the eastern pre-dawn sky, creating a rare celestial event. The Moon will make a close pass to Saturn and Neptune on August 12, although only Saturn will be visible to the naked eye. Saturn will rise at 9:56 pm (EDT) on August 8 and will be visible in the constellation Pisces.

Mizoram University researchers discover new snake species
Mizoram University researchers discover new snake species

News18

time2 hours ago

  • News18

Mizoram University researchers discover new snake species

Agency: PTI Last Updated: Aizawl, Aug 7 (PTI) Researchers from the Zoology Department of Mizoram University have discovered a new species of snake — 'Smithophis laptofasciatus'. The new species was discovered after studying its scales, morphological features and DNA during herpetological expeditions, Professor H T Lalremsanga, who heads the Zoology Department, said. The findings of the new research were published in the international scientific journal, 'Taprobanica' (The Journal of Asian Biodiversity) on August 5, he said. According to Lalremsanga, five Smithophis snake species have been discovered so far worldwide. They are mainly found in India's Northeast and neighbouring regions, he said. Of the five species, two species — Smithophis atemporalis and Smithophis mizoramensis — were discovered in Mizoram, he said. Although the new finding was described as Smithophis bicolour, which was discovered in Meghalaya in 1855, a thorough study revealed that Smithophis laptofasciatus differs from the latter in its DNA and morphological features by 11.5 per cent, which confirmed it to be a new species, he said. Smithophis laptofasciatus is non-venomous and mainly feeds on worms, he said, adding it lives in dense forests. PTI CORR ACD view comments First Published: August 07, 2025, 14:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store