Data-relay satellite to track Gaganyaan is an important initiative of ISRO, before the launch of Gaganyaan. The data-relay satellite will be launched to maintain consistent contact with the Gaganyaan. Now the final phase of the Gaganyaan mission will culminate with sending astronauts to the lower earth orbit (LEO). And it is scheduled to take place in December. An official statement from ISRO quotes that, “We’re planning to launch our own satellite, which will act as a data relay satellite before going for the first human space flight.”
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What is a Data-relay satellite?
Now when a satellite is placed in orbit, it is expected to pass crucial space-related information to the ground stations. But in the absence of a data-relay satellite, the main satellite is not able to have a clear view of ground stations. And hence remains incapable to transmit the data well. Thus, these satellites do just that. It paves the way for these satellites to pass satellite information.
Even NASA has backed up all of its human-space missions with a data-relay satellite. Its tracking and data-relay satellite covers a global view of all of its satellites. And hence, saves the time and efforts that would otherwise go into building more ground stations on earth.
ISRO with several ground stations
Now, ISRO to keep up its human-space mission has to maintain many ground stations globally. These ground stations not only incur huge maintenance costs but also leave many blind spots of poor signals. Having and launching a data-relay satellite will certainly mitigate these grave space-signal issues. And will also draw the entire mission closer to success. ISRO, as of now maintains ground stations in Mauritius, Brunei& Biak, Indonesia. Apart from this, several proposals have surfaced to set up a new ground station at the Coco islands for the same mission. And also for the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO has had an agreement with the French Space agencies CNES to get training for the Indian flight physicians. Indian space crew will also have access to CNES developed equipment, which as of now are installed at the International Space Station.
