Ø Communication satellite GSAT-16 was
successfully launched on board an Arianespace rocket from Kourou in French
Guiana, after a delay of two days due to bad weather. The satellite with 48
transponders, the largest ever carried by a communication spacecraft built by
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was injected into the intended
Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). It was a dual satellite launch with
GSAT-16 with a lift-off mass of 3,181 kg ejected into space four minutes after
its co-passenger DIRECTTV-14 spacecraft, designed to provide direct-to-home TV
broadcasts across the US, was placed in orbit, Arianespace said. After the
command and control of the satellite was taken over by its Master Control
Facility at Hassan in Karnataka soon after the launch, ISRO said initial checks
indicated “normal health” of the satellite.
Ø India and Russia will look to trade to boost
the sagging ties between the two countries when Russian President
Vladimir Putin arrives here for a brief visit this week. Mr.
Putin will land on December 10 and fly out within 24 hours the next day. Mr.
Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are likely to unveil two “vision documents” on
strategic, nuclear and economic issues, and could possibly make
a joint appearance at the World Diamond Congress being held here on December 11 and
12. Mr. Putin’s visit is part of the annual bilateral summits instituted by him
during his earlier term as President in 2000. However, he will not address a
joint session of Parliament as he did that year. Sources said though India had
invited him to deliver the speech, his “tight schedule” will not permit him to
do so. Mr. Putin will not visit the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, though Mr.
Modi invited him when they met at the BRICS summit in Brazil in July.
Ø Continuing its assistance to Male, which is
facing a severe water crisis, India delivered about 1,000 tonnes of fresh water to the
Maldivian capital. INS Deepak, a large fleet tanker carrying 900 tonnes of
water from Mumbai reached Male on Sunday evening. Two C-17s of the Indian Air
Force also delivered another 90 tonnes of potable water. Indian warships
have the capability to produce drinking water using their desalination plants
and INS Deepak is capable of producing 100 tonnes of water every day, the Navy
said in a statement. INS Sukanya, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, which
reached Male on Friday night with 35 tonnes of fresh water, has the capability
to produce 20 tonnes every day. The ship has already transferred approximately
65 tonnes of fresh water till Sunday evening, Navy sources said. Indian
Navy ships will continue to produce and supply potable water to Male even while
at anchor. The responsiveness, unique capabilities, flexibility and versatility
of warships in meeting various contingencies have yet again been demonstrated.
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| New Horizon Probe |
Ø A NASA probe launched eight years ago to
explore Pluto has woken up from its last hibernation in deep space and is now
preparing to take first detailed images of the dwarf planet’s surface and its
moons in July 2015. Launched in January 2006, New Horizons probe has travelled
nearly 4.6 billion km on its way to study Pluto, its largest moon Charon and a
few smaller moons, Space.com reported. During its journey, New Horizons
passed three to four times close to Jupiter, using the planet’s gravity to
increase its speed and reduce journey times to Pluto by three years. While
the probe is now out of its hibernation phase, it will still take seven months
to reach its closet point to Pluto, passing within 12,500 km of the planet’s
surface in July 2015. The probe sends a weekly signal back to Earth, and is
woken up every six to 10 months to ensure that it is still operational.
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