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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - October 2016

Oct 2016

Nov 14, 2020

New Sentinel Satellites to Check the Pulse of Earth

Yet more Sentinel satellites are to be built for the EU's Copernicus Earth observation network.
Contracts have been announced with industry to procure spacecraft that can provide information on a range of parameters - from the extent of Arctic sea-ice to the condition of soils in drought-hit regions of the world.
The new satellites are expected to launch towards the decade's end.
This depends, however, on sufficient further funding being identified.
Copernicus, with its Sentinel spacecraft, represents arguably the most ambitious EO programme in the world right now.
While a number of commercial concerns are launching larger numbers of satellites to map the Earth, none is investing in so wide a range of high-fidelity sensor types.

Nov 12, 2020

India's Quest for its Own SpaceX Hits a Milestone

Bengaluru startup Pixxel aims to launch a constellation of Earth observation small satellites whose data can have multiple applications in agriculture and other sectors. Its first satellite was good to go on a Soyuz rocket this month, but the launch was put off to March next year because the main satellite riding on the Russian vehicle wasn't ready.
Makers of small satellites have to piggyback on rockets that have large payloads.
Hence the emergence of dozens of startups developing small-satellite launches vehicles. US-based Rocket Lab has already proved its viability, launching its 15th commercial payload last month with 10 small satellites. Its next mission later this month aims to deploy 30 small satellites.

OTT Platforms, News Sites Now under I&B

In a move much anticipated, a notification signed by President Ram Nath Kovind brings over-the-top (OTT) platforms like online news portals and streaming services under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
While Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had assured in 2019 that the Centre would not curb media freedom, he had stressed the need for a regulatory mechanism for the digital media, just as the one for other mediums like the print and electronic.

Nov 11, 2020

Researcher Developing Novel System for Nuclear Waste Repositories

A Texas A&M professor, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, received a Department of Energy grant to develop a system in engineered barriers to isolate and contain nuclear fuel waste.
Nuclear power plants have supplied about 20% of the United States' annual electricity generation since 1990, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But that energy creates high-level radioactive waste that has to be stored.
Yong-Rak Kim, professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded a U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Program grant to develop a novel system in engineered barriers to permanently isolate and contain nuclear fuel waste. Kim is collaborating with researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nov 10, 2020

Rajnath Singh Inaugurates Model of A-SAT Missile System

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a model of the anti-satellite missile system (A-SAT) at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters in Delhi. The missile system is seen as a symbol of national technological advancement for India.
Earlier, DRDO had successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test 'Mission Shakti' from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha on March 27, 2019, which propelled India into an elite club of few nations having the advanced capability.

China Launches World's First 6G Test Satellite into Orbit

China has successfully launched what has been described as the world's first 6G satellite into space to test the technology.
It went into orbit along with 12 other satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Shanxi Province.
Named after the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, the satellite was jointly developed by Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology, UESTC, and Beijing MinoSpace Technology.
It will be used to verify the performance of 6G technology in space as the 6G frequency band will expand from the 5G millimeter wave frequency to the terahertz frequency.
The satellite is the first technical test of terahertz communication's application in space.

Nov 08, 2020

ISRO Launches EOS-01

India sent its first space mission in almost a year with a launch of EOS-01, an earth observation satellite. EOS-01, along with nine satellites from foreign countries, was launched by a PSLV rocket.
This is ISRO's first mission since the launch of RISAT-2BR1, another earth observation satellite similar to EOS-01, on December 11 last year. After that, ISRO had also sent communication satellite GSAT-30 in space in January this year, but that was done using an Ariane rocket launched from French Guiana.
Thereafter, ISRO's launch schedule was entirely derailed by the coronavirus epidemic. ISRO had planned more than 20 satellite launches in the fiscal year 2020-21, including high profile missions like Aditya L1, the first exploratory mission to Sun, and unmanned Gaganyaan, the precursor to India's first manned space flight.

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