The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ESA extends invite to India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

ESA extends invite to India

HYDERABAD: The European Space Agency has invited India to become a member of the International Education Space Board which seeks to develop an international network of students interested in space science.

Disclosing this to reporters here on Tuesday, after he had a meeting with ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain said they had discussed issues relating to future cooperation in science domain and education. He said he had met many Indian students here who were enthusiastic, motivated and willing to contribute to ESA.

Several Indian scientists had made proposals to participate in ESA’s cosmic vision and ISRO was ready to support three proposals which were under evaluation currently. He pointed out ISRO had several operational earth observation satellites and it already had an exchange programme with ESA on this. “We plan to have more in future” Mr. Dordain said. ESA’s instruments could be carried on Indian satellites and vice versa. His next meeting with Mr. Nair would be held in March next. The X Prize Foundation, which in collaboration with Google, which had recently announced a $30 million prize for the first private organisation which sends a robotic rover to the moon that will transmit images, had so far received 150 expressions of interest, including from India. Executive Director, X Prize Foundation, Bretton S. F. Alexander, who participated in a ‘Late Breaking News Session’ at the ongoing International Astronautical Congress said that such a competition would help in reducing the cost of robotic exploration because private sector could bring in innovation.

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