The private sector has a big opportunity in developing micro and nano satellites that could be increasingly used by educational institutions, private institutions or individuals for scientific purposes, says Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

According to TK Alex, director of Isro Satellite Centre, Bangalore, presently private sector is involved in the production of ancillaries for satellites. Developing of satellites themselves will be a bigger opportunity as many educational and private institutions have started evincing interest in getting their own satellites launched.

Anna University’s micro satellite named Anusat was launched in 2009 and others who have or are in the process of launching satellites include IIT-Kharagpur, Sathyabhama University and SRM University.

“Micro and nano satellites will make space exploration cheaper. They could be used for several purposes, including communication and scientific research. We are encouraging private educational institutions, students and universities to take up satellite fabrication as a serious profession since all stake holders stand to gain a lot in terms of information and data,” said Alex.

Isro also plans to set up a satellite-based navigation system. “The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System with a fleet of 11 satellites will be operational next year. We are developing GPS aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) satellite that will offer high resolution images to the civil aviation sector. This will bring down aviation mishaps since pilots will get sharp and clear pictures and signals from control towers,” said Suresh V Kibe, scientist with Isro.

It will also launch a high resolution satellite capable of continuously monitoring major swaths of the country’s borders. “It will be stationed at an altitude of 36,000 km and transmit live pictures of the areas of our choice. The images will have a resolution of 50 meters,” said Ranganath R Navalgund, director, Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, a specialised unit of Isro.