A team of scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is building a cost-effective new satellite that would help predict cyclones and other weather conditions in the country. The new ScatSat-1 satellite will replace OceanSat-2, which has correctly predicted cyclones in the past.
Dubbed as an example of frugality, the 310-kg ScatSat-1 satellite is being created at 60 percent its actual cost and in as fast as one-third of the expected timeframe.
How is that possible? It's all because of recycling.
About 40 percent of the massive satellite is comprised of scraps from previous satellite missions that have been developed at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad. SAC is a vital arm of ISRO, and it deals with a variety of disciplines such as the design and development of societal applications, payloads, space sciences, and capacity building.
"Normally, it takes about three years to build a satellite of this class from scratch," said SAC director Tapan Misra.
"However, as we have sourced 40 percent of the parts used in ScatSat-1 from spares of previous missions, we will complete it in a year's time."
The cost of the entire ScatSat-1 project will be further cut down as the new weather satellite will be launched into orbit while piggy-backing onto another satellite. It will definitely save launch costs, Misra said.
The ScatSat-1 satellite's task is to measure wind vectors, as well as the speed and direction of wind over oceans. It has been built to survive multiple system failures, unlike previous satellites which were only designed to withstand a single failure, Misra said.
OceanSat-2 was launched six years ago, and had become dysfunctional in 2014. It was known for its accurate predictions of cyclone Hudhud and cyclone Phailin. The latter was detected in Orissa Coast three years ago.
Now that the OceanSat-2 is dysfunctional and the ScatSat-1 is still being built, the ISRO is collecting weather data from the INSAT-3D satellite.
ISRO has proven that it is capable of being extremely economical. In 2014, India achieved a historic moment when it successfully placed the low-cost Mars spacecraft named Mangalyaan around the red planet just on its very first attempt. With that, India broke into an elite club of three nations.
Meanwhile, the ScatSat-1 satellite is expected to have a mission-life of five years, and it will represent ISRO until an advanced OceanSat-3 is built.
