Both the satellites had started functioning, with Cartosat I sending detailed images of the entire Amritsar town in Punjab and parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan within 24 hours of the launch. Hamsat, meant for amateur radio communication, had also been well received by users worldwide as it was the only fully functional satellite of its kind now.
About Cartosat II, the ISRO chief said it was being integrated and would be ready for launch within six months. The launch would also see India testing its dual launch capability with two payloads of equal weight being sent into space. Besides Cartosat II, a recoverable module would also be launched. Each would weigh 250 kg.
The country would also see its first commercial launch of a foreign satellite early next year, when an Italian satellite "Agile" would be launched aboard a PSLV, he said. Stating that Antrix, the commercial corporation under ISRO, had netted Rs 300 crore in revenue last year through sale of data, launch services and sale of sub-systems, Nair said it was expecting a 25 per cent increase in revenues this year.
The Chandrayan-1 Moon Mission, Oceansat and Astrosat were some of the other major missions, which the ISRO was presently working on, and which would be ready for launch during 2007-07, Nair said. In the near future, the premier space agency would be launching INSAT 4A in August and INSAT 4C next year, he added.
ISRO had reached an understanding with the Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) to manufacture a 34 meter dish antenna, to be located near Bangalore, as part of the deep space tracking network to be set up by ISRO for the Chandrayan mission.
Describing the Chandrayan mission as an ambitious project of ISRO, Nair said the organisation would have to fabricate a number of new scientific instruments for it. Besides ISRO's own payload, three Euorpean payloads had been cleared to ride "piggyback" aboard the mission. Clearance was still awaited for two US payloads, he added.
Referring to Cartosat II, Nair said it would be equipped with added features, which would enable it to map different regions during its daily "pass" over the country. "There are 160 towns in the country, which need to be mapped in detail. These two satellites, providing 3-D images, would come in very handy for the purpose" An international space law conference would be held at Bangalore from June 27 to 29, he said.
In reply to a query on the tsunami early warning system, Nair said ISRO would help the Department of Ocean Development (DOD) in the development of ocean bed sensors and the transmission of signals from the sea to the ground.
