13 November 2003 02:14
India, Russia plan unmanned moon mission
Joint space research is emerging as a thrust area of Indo-Russian cooperation in science and technology, with India
and Russia agreeing to pool efforts for an unmanned space mission to the moon and the setting up of a space navigation
system.
A memorandum of understanding signed today between ISRO and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviakosmos, on
the sidelines of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Russia, calls for massive Russian input in
ISRO's moon mission programme.
India and Russia would join hands to develop new missile boosters and space probes, the Rosaviakosmos chief said
after the signing ceremony in the Kremlin. Russia will throw open for India, Soviet experience in lunar expeditions, the
head of Rosaviakosmos, Yuri Koptev, told The Hindu . The Soviet Union was the first to send automatic probes to the
moon, photograph its back side, and to bring lunar rock probes to the earth, even though the United States was later the
first to land a man on the moon.
Russia has also agreed to help India to construct space antennas and build electrical rocket engines needed for lunar
missions. In the next six months the two sides will identify specific aspects and the format of cooperation in the lunar
programme and update an intergovernmental agreement on space cooperation signed earlier.
Our cooperation would not be a buyer-seller relationship, but full-fledged partnership in joint development and
construction of space hardware, Mr. Koptev said. He praised the high level of the Indian space programme.
The Indian ambition of sending an automatic probe to the moon was quite a realistic goal, the Rosaviakosmos chief
noted. India had a better array of communication satellites in orbit and far more powerful earth monitoring satellites
than Russia had. Rosaviakosmos would probably put some Russian scientific instruments aboard the Indian moon-bound
rocket.
India will also take part in upgrading the Russian global space navigation system Glonass. The MoU provides for joint
fabrication and launch of navigation satellites.
In another breakthrough for Indo-Russian cooperation in science and technology the two sides agreed to set up two
joint research centres in India. A centre for gas hydrate studies will be established in Chennai and an earthquake
research centre will open in Delhi.
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
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