Nano satellites to be launched by April-end

Tirupati, Mar 25 (UNI) Asserting that India will be a role model for the rest of the world in space technology, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director K Radhakrishnan today said Nano satellites were likely to be launched by the end of next month.

Talking to newspersons after inaugurating the five-day National School on Atmospheric Radars and Lidars (NSARL-2008) here, he said space technology had helped the country join the comity of nations with the high technology. India was in the sixth position in space technology and fourth in recovery module technology.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had earlier said it would launch a special platform to put into space miniature satellites, catering to the needs of developing countries and the domestic scientific community. ISRO was developing a 100-kg ''satellite bus'' as demand had picked up for launching nano satellites.

Referring to Chandrayaan, Dr Radhakrishnan said work on the first unmanned moon mission would be completed shortly and was expected to be launched in the middle of the year on board India's polar satellite launch vehicle.

The NSARL was jointly organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) Centre for MST Radar Applications, Department of Physics and the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, keeping in view the rapidly increasing impact of pollution and environmental change on the dynamics and functionalities of atmosphere.

About 80 participants, including post graduate students, research scholars, lecturers and scientists, were participating in the school and about 30 eminent Indian scientists in the field of atmospheric sciences would deliver lectures on issues in atmospheric research.

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