India, France to develop earth sciences satellite
Posted: Sat, Nov 13, 2004, 9:24 AM ET (1424 GMT)
The space agencies of France and India agreed Friday to jointly develop an earth observing satellite, after several years of studying such a mission. Representatives of the French space agency CNES and the Indian space agency ISRO signed a memorandum of understanding for the Megha-Tropiques mission at ISRO headquarters in Bangalore. Megha-Tropiques — a name derived from the Sanskrit world for cloud and the French word for tropics — will study the role of the water cycle in climate dynamics in tropical regions. The spacecraft, to be built by ISRO, will carry two instruments provided by CNES and a third jointly developed by CNES and ISRO. The spacecraft will be launched on an Indian PSLV booster in 2008 or 2009. ISRO will spend about $24 million on the mission, while CNES will contribute $62 million. Megha-Tropiques had been under study by the two space agencies for about five years, with a preliminary agreement signed in 2001, but budget problems at CNES threatened the mission. Under previous plans, Megha-Tropiques was to have used a French satellite bus called Proteus, rather than the design based on ISRO's IRS remote sensing satellites that was announced Friday.
The space agencies of France and India agreed Friday to jointly develop an earth observing satellite, after several years of studying such a mission. Representatives of the French space agency CNES and the Indian space agency ISRO signed a memorandum of understanding for the Megha-Tropiques mission at ISRO headquarters in Bangalore. Megha-Tropiques — a name derived from the Sanskrit world for cloud and the French word for tropics — will study the role of the water cycle in climate dynamics in tropical regions. The spacecraft, to be built by ISRO, will carry two instruments provided by CNES and a third jointly developed by CNES and ISRO. The spacecraft will be launched on an Indian PSLV booster in 2008 or 2009. ISRO will spend about $24 million on the mission, while CNES will contribute $62 million. Megha-Tropiques had been under study by the two space agencies for about five years, with a preliminary agreement signed in 2001, but budget problems at CNES threatened the mission. Under previous plans, Megha-Tropiques was to have used a French satellite bus called Proteus, rather than the design based on ISRO's IRS remote sensing satellites that was announced Friday.
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