Mexico seeks ISRO's support in building and launching remote sensing satellite
04 Jan 2023 17:14:54
New Delhi, December 04 : In a major development, the chief of Mexican Space has sought the support of the Indian Space Research Orgnisation in building and launching a remote sensing satellite. This request from Mexico is part of the ongoing cooperation activities between India and Mexico in Earth observation.
A remote sensing satellite is used to observe or gather data about a place or a phenomenon, without making physical contact with it. It is the exact opposite of on-site observation. Remote sensing has diverse applications including geology, oceanography, meteorology, military, intelligence-gathering etc.
The discussions were held during a virtual meeting between Dr S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, and D. Salvador Landeros Ayala, Director General of Mexican Space Agency (AEM). Dr Pankaj Sharma, Indian Ambassador to Mexico and Gustavo A. Cabrera Rodriguez, Ambassador of Mexicofor the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE) also participated in the meeting.
As per the reports, ISRO will work on this proposal with the support of India's External Affairs Ministry.
The Mexican official thanked the ISRO for developing a mobile application for forest fire monitoring and sharing it with Mexican Forest Department.
The Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM), Mexico's national space agency, was established in 2010 and aims to promote and coordinate education, R&D of space-related activities that are performed in the country. The agency does not yet possess the capability to design and build spacefaring rockets and satellites.
The Department of Space, under the Government of India, has been providing training and capacity building in space science related technology, including satellite services to neighbouring small countries and other space-aspiring countries of the world.