Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman V. Narayanan on Monday offered the Indian Railways access to the “spare transponder capacity” on existing communication satellites to strengthen its signalling and communication systems.
“We are ready for any kind of contract with the Railways. We will be tripling our number of satellites, including three more navigation and communication satellites adding to the existing four,” he told railway engineers at the 68th annual day celebrations of IRISET (Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering & Telecommunications) here in Secunderabad.
ISRO has also mapped potential flood-prone zones across the country, which policymakers can use to avoid routing new railway lines or roads through vulnerable areas, he said. The chairman added that he wants all running trains to be connected in real time, in addition to the 10,000 already linked. He also outlined ISRO’s long-term goals, including an indigenous space station by 2035 and a human mission to the moon on an Indian rocket by 2040.
IRISET director general Sharad Kumar Srivastava said the Centre of Excellence had played a played a pivotal role in fast-tracking Kavach, the indigenous automatic train protection system deployed across Indian Railways.
