Isro's SpaDeX: India successfully conducts historic space-docking test
Indian space agency Isro has for the first time successfully conducted space docking by joining together two small craft in space.The technology is essential for the country's future ambition to build an Indian space station and put a person on the Moon.The spacecraft were blasted off from Sriharikota launch pad in southern India on 30 December on a single rocket. Once airborne, they separated. The docking process, initially scheduled for 7 January, was rescheduled a number of times. On Thursday morning, the space agency announced that it had created history by becoming only the fourth country in the world with such technology after United States, Russia and China.
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Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
France's Dassault and India's Tata to produce Rafale fuselage in Hyderabad
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Reuters
4 days ago
- Reuters
Reliance, Airtel group challenges 'low' India satcom fee which can help Starlink
NEW DELHI, June 4 (Reuters) - A group representing Indian telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel has said their businesses will suffer if India prices satellite spectrum at "unjustifiably low" rates that benefit satellite internet services such as Elon Musk's Starlink. India's telecom regulator in May proposed satellite service providers pay 4% of their annual revenue to the government for offering services. Starlink had lobbied India not to auction spectrum but just assign licences in line with a global trend, saying it is a natural resource that should be shared by companies. The Cellular Operators Association of India in a May 29 letter to the telecoms ministry sought a review of those pricing proposals, saying traditional players pay higher upfront auction charges for telecoms spectrum which make their payments to the government for spectrum roughly 21% higher, when compared to what satellite players would pay. "Price per MHz should be equivalent or at least comparable for both, especially when used to reach the same consumers for identical services," said the letter, seen by Reuters. "Satellite services can offer competitive and affordable alternatives to terrestrial broadband," it added. Reliance, led by Asia's richest man Ambani, and Airtel didn't respond to Reuters' request for comment. Starlink was not immediately available for comment. A senior Indian government source told Reuters on Wednesday the telecoms ministry is still reviewing the pricing recommendations made by the regulator, adding such industry concerns have been raised in the past. Telecom players like Reliance Jio ( opens new tab are concerned they will be offering similar wireless broadband services as satellite providers but paying much more, said an industry source with direct knowledge of the situation. Reliance and others have spent nearly $20 billion in recent years to get 5G spectrum via auctions to offer telecom, data and broadband services. Ambani's company unsuccessfully lobbied New Delhi for months to auction satellite spectrum, and not allot it administratively as Musk's Starlink wanted. Though Reliance and Airtel have signed distribution deals in March for Starlink equipment, they will continue to compete with Musk's offerings to customers once launched. The process of Starlink getting a license is "nearly complete", telecoms minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told The Print news website on Tuesday.
The Herald Scotland
29-05-2025
- The Herald Scotland
'World's first' diving expedition to secluded Scottish shoreline
The team was made up of a marine archaeologist, a Royal Engineer bomb disposal diver, two marine biologists and a world-record-holding female powerboat racer. They were led by marine conservationist, broadcaster and former Royal Marine Monty Halls, whose most notable adventures include leading a multi-disciplinary team to the discovery of a sunken city off the Indian coast, three expeditions to Malawi to explore the ecosystems of the famous freshwater lake, and one to South Africa diving for evidence of prehistoric settlements in cave systems off the Cape. READ MORE: The successful expedition, which took place between May 17-24, found munitions, debris, and relics of the first amphibious training operations run the Commandos and SOE – the Special Operations Executive. The historical remnants, left on land and the seabed during secret military training during WWII, have helped build a picture of what was involved in the preparation. Using methodical surveying techniques to find relics beneath the sand, the team's diving operations were the first ever to take place where the amphibious landings had been rehearsed from June 1940 onwards.
