SPACE reports, “A European mission that will use two satellites to create artificial eclipses in Earth orbit will launch early Thursday morning (Dec. 5) … The ESA’s Proba-3 formation-flying mission is scheduled to lift off atop an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Thursday at 5:42 a.m. EST (1042 GMT; 4:42 p.m. local time in India).”
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Tag: India
India to Launch European Proba-3 Satellites on Dec. 5 to Create Artificial Eclipses in Space
SPACE reports, “A European mission that will use two satellites to create artificial eclipses in Earth orbit will launch early Thursday morning (Dec. 5) … The ESA’s Proba-3 formation-flying mission is scheduled to lift off atop an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Thursday at 5:42 a.m. EST (1042 GMT; 4:42 p.m. local time in India).”
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Airbus and Boeing Seek High-Skill Talent in India
Bloomberg reports that The Boeing Company and Airbus “are increasingly looking to India for highly-skilled, low-cost engineers to meet a boom in demand for aircraft and expand their manufacturing presence in the world’s fifth-largest economy.” Airbus is looking to hire 1,000 people in India in 2023, out of 13,000 globally. Boeing already employs approximately 18,000 people in India, including its suppliers.
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India Launches Seven Satellites
Space News reports that India successfully “launched seven Singaporean satellites into low Earth orbit July 29 on its workhorse PSLV rocket.” The launch “was the nation’s sixth orbital launch of the year, which were all successful, and occurred two weeks after the launch of the Indian robotic lunar lander Chandrayaan-3, which is flying toward the lunar south pole for a soft-landing attempt between Aug. 23 and 24.” The four-stage PSLV rocket “lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 10:01 p.m. Eastern as scheduled.” The launch was “conducted by ISRO under a contract with New Space India Limited (NSIL), a commercial arm of the space agency.” The primary payload “was a 360-kilogram remote-sending satellite, named DS-SAR,” which “carries a synthetic aperture radar developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).”
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Amazon Expands its Air Cargo Service in India
CNBC reports Amazon said Monday it is expanding its air cargo unit, Amazon Air, to India. The company “is using two Boeing 737-800 aircraft flown by Quikjet Cargo Airlines to ship packages across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.” Amazon Air’s presence in the country “will enable the company to offer faster deliveries to customers in India, said Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air, in a statement.” At the same time, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy “is undergoing a broad review of the company’s expenses as it stares down a worsening economic outlook and slowing retail sales.” The company began the largest set of layoffs in its history last week, which is expected to result in the elimination of 18,000 jobs.
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US, India to Collaborate on Autonomous Systems
Defense One reports, “The U.S. and India are launching a new alliance for autonomous systems, which builds on bipartisan groundwork laid by previous administrations and could be a stabilizing force for the democracies’ future tech exchanges. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined President Donald Trump in Washington on Feb. 13 to discuss tariffs, technology, and energy and defense initiatives.”
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India’s Space Industry Sees Rapid Growth
The New York Times reports that from humble beginnings in 1963, India’s space industry “has found much surer footing. … Suddenly India has become home to at least 140 registered space-tech start-ups, comprising a local research field that stands to transform the planet’s connection to the final frontier. It’s one of India’s most sought-after sectors for venture capital investors. The start-ups’ growth has been explosive, leaping from five when the pandemic started. And they see a big market to serve.”
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India’s Space Program Seeks Rebound in 2022
Space News reports that Indian space agency ISRO Chairman K. Sivan “says he expects much more in 2022, including an uncrewed test flight for its human spaceflight program.” Sivan wrote, “There is a feeling that very little happened in ISRO during 2021. That feeling is primarily due to less number of launches.” ISRO “carried out only two launches in 2021,” a satellite aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched in February, and an Earth imaging satellite launched aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. A key initiative for 2022 is the launch of Gaganyaan, India’s first crewed mission. Sivan wrote, “There is a directive to launch the first unmanned mission before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and all the stake-holders are putting their best effort to meet the schedule. I am sure that we will be able to meet this target.”
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