The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Australian Space Agency (ASA) reviewed space cooperation and discussed potential areas of working together in a virtual meeting held on Tuesday, June 7.
S Somanath, chairman of the ISRO and secretary in the Department of Space (DoS), and Enrico Palermo, head of the ASA attended the meeting, and expressed happiness over the progress in the ongoing discussion on establishing ISRO's ground station in Australia to support 'Gaganyaan' mission, according to an ISRO statement.
What Did The Leaders Of The Space Agencies Discuss?
The leaders of the Indian and Australian space agencies discussed other potential areas of working together including Australia's International Space Investment initiative, establishing the Indian space agency's ground stations in Australia for satellite data reception and for range and integrity monitoring of the Indian Regional Navigation System, which has an operational name of NavIC. This is an autonomous regional navigation satellite system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services, according to the ISRO.
The leaders also discussed organising a joint workshop to promote interaction among space entities of both nations.
According to the ISRO, David Puig, Ambassador of Dominican Republic to India, who called on Somanath at the Indian space agency's headquarters in Bengaluru, expressed his strong desire to learn India's vast experience in harnessing the benefits of space technology for national development through access to satellite data, training and capacity building in space technology applications.