Is the Indian government looking at having about 130 earth observation satellites under the public-private-partnership model, an idea mooted by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) in its consultation paper? It seems yes, based on the kind of imagery that is required and the number of revisits a satellite has to make to a particular spot, said industry experts. The consultation paper is silent on the current revenue generated from the satellite images or the number of Indian government departments willing to invest in satellites. Giving further clarity on the topic was Tapan Misra, Founding Director and Chief Scientist, Sisir Radar Private Ltd and former Director at the Space Applications Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
“Images with very high-resolution 30cm or better data will have a swath of 5 to 10 km. With revisit of three days, we will need 90 satellites (b) High resolution 1 metre will have a swath of 20-30 km. With a three day revisit, we need around 30 satellites and (c) stereo data of 1 metre resolution will have a revisit period of around 15 days to a month. We will need around six satellite constellations,” Misra told IANS.
In other words there may be a need for about 126 or 130 earth observation satellites. India’s geospatial economy is expected to cross Rs 63,000 crore by 2025, growing at a rate of 12.8 per cent, and to provide employment to more than 10 lakh people, mainly through geospatial startups, IN-SPACe said.
In other words there may be a need for about 126 or 130 earth observation satellites. India’s geospatial economy is expected to cross Rs 63,000 crore by 2025, growing at a rate of 12.8 per cent, and to provide employment to more than 10 lakh people, mainly through geospatial startups, IN-SPACe said.