ISRO takes lead role in space-based disaster management

BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is taking the lead in space-based disaster management initiatives as a part of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters for six months starting from April. The ‘lead role’ tenure started soon after the recently held 53rd meeting of the charter in Hyderabad, organised by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and ISRO.

Participants from major global space agencies, including 22 foreign delegates, attended the event. India is a signatory to the charter and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025, with ISRO being a founder member, said an official release on Saturday.

The charter functions as a collaborative framework involving 17 member organisations, who voluntarily provide Earth observation data and value-added products for managing disasters occurring globally.

During the lead role period, NRSC and ISRO would coordinate the global disaster response efforts of the charter using space-based assets, including managing the activation requests, rapid dissemination of products, leading strategic planning and facilitating training, outreach and capacity-building activities, the charter stated.