PremiumGreater use of Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS, is one of the key sources of position information, alongside radio navigation systems, which exchange information with nearby ships and land-based vessel traffic services on a vessel’s position, course and speed
New Delhi: The government has taken up “marine surveillance" to a new level where space applications are also being deployed to share valuable inputs with security agencies, said Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of state for Earth Sciences on Tuesday.
Addressing the first Joint Society meeting of Autonomous Institutes (IITM, INCOIS, NCESS, NCPOR, NIOT) of Ministry of Earth Sciences, the minister said that Oceansat will be launched on 26 November.
“The installation of a NASA-ISRO Radar System is at an advanced stage. Greater use of Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS, is one of the key sources of position information, alongside radio navigation systems, which exchange information with nearby ships and land-based vessel traffic services (VTS) on a vessel’s position, course and speed," Singh added.
The minister reviewed the design and development of the Manned Submersible – MATSYA 6000. “Completion of all testing to proceed for shallow water testing of manned submersible during the first quarter of 2024 using the NIOT-MoES research vessel ORV Sagar Nidhi. Based on the ongoing progress, it is expected that all the long lead components shall get realized by the third quarter of 2023 to proceed for the subcomponent integration and testing by following due DNV approved interface procedures," he said.
Singh said that for the benefit of ocean scientific community, under the Deep Ocean Mission’s SAMUDRAYAAN programme of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the deep-water human submersible MATSYA6000 is designed and developed indigenously by National Institute of Ocean Technology, an autonomous institute under MoES.
“The battery-powered submersible MATSYA 6000 will have the capability to carry three persons up to 6000 m water depth and perform scientific exploration with a normal endurance period of 12h and emergency support for 96 hours. Manned submersible has the advantages of carrying scientists to deep sea areas for research on life in extreme environments by biological sampling, habitat analysis and in situ experiments for ocean mineral exploration," he added.
All five autonomous bodies--Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)--have been merged into a single Society of MoES.