Space diplomacy: India building ground station for Asean countries in Vietnam

[Nilgiri]

Space diplomacy: India building ground station for Asean countries in Vietnam | India News - Times of India

India News: NEW DELHI: As part of Space co-operation between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), India has started work on establishing.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Space diplomacy: India building ground station for Asean countries in Vietnam

NEW DELHI: As part of Space co-operation between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), India has started work on establishing a ground station, payload data reception, processing and dissemination facility in Vietnam.

It is intended to provide a reliable operational space-based system for remote sensing over the Asean — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — region.

From providing remote sensing data and training to working with countries on small satellites, among other things, Isro has had a long partnership with Asean and this is another step towards furthering India’s space diplomacy.

The TOI had first reported India’s intent to establish a ground station in Vietnam in 2015, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed the matter at the India-Asean meeting at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. And, earlier this year, India told the UN security council that its vision of the Indo-Pacific as a free, open and inclusive region is premised upon ASEAN centrality and the common pursuit of prosperity.

The proposed facility, which will be built on a four-hectare land at My Phouc-3 industrial park, Binh Doung province, Vietnam will have an 11m antenna which will be installed by Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac).

Documents reviewed by TOI show that the land for the project has already been acquired by the Vietnamese government while Istrac has floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) from bidders for the construction of the facility last week.

The selected companies will be “taking up the work on a design and build mode which includes planning the work by taking the prior approvals from Vietnam authorities and designing, constructing and commissioning the work as per the approved plan at the acquired land as a composite work including civil, PH, electrical and other allied works.”

The estimated cost of the project is 86 billion Vietnamese dollars (EDIT: 4 mln USD) and work is expected to be completed in 18 months of being commissioned. The facility will include an antenna support structure spread across 75-sqm, a facility building spread across 1,235-sqm, among other things.

The facility, once operational, will also be useful for India, which has been working on enhancing its tracking network. Isro already has a network of ground stations within the country and outside: Bengaluru, Lucknow, Mauritius, Sriharikota, Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Brunei, Biak (Indonesia).

Among other projects, the said facility in Vietnam might also help India’s Gaganyaan mission as Isro is looking to have its own coverage for at least 90% of the flight path and depend as little on other tracking stations as possible for the human flight mission.

 

[Nilgiri]

Sorry I accidentally moved it here....can move/merge/delete as ID mods want.

 

[trishna_amrta]

IF only ISRO is willing to partner with Indonesia to build orbital launch facility iat Biak. The place (Biak) is geographically the best spot on earth for orbital launch (better than even Guiana)

 

[NEKO]

Biak (Indonesia).

First time I hear about it.

IF only ISRO is willing to partner with Indonesia to build orbital launch facility iat Biak. The place (Biak) is geographically the best spot on earth for orbital launch (better than even Guiana)

But a bit remote.

 

[trishna_amrta]

First time I hear about it.

Biak spaceport is often widely cited in various hard sci-fi literature as the cheapest spaceport, simply due to its geographic location.

But a bit remote.

It's an orbital launch spaceport, not a train / bus station.

 

[NEKO]

Biak spaceport is often widely cited in various hard sci-fi literature as the cheapest spaceport, simply due to its geographic location.

First time I hear that India have ground station there, I know that there is some interest to make Biak a spaceport, last time RU said they are interested to work with us to build it(during pakdef era), not sure how is that plan going.
And recently the govt try to approach E Musk.
If somehow we can make biak as launch site maybe it will gonna be like Tanegashima.

It's an orbital launch spaceport, not a train / bus station.

 

[Nilgiri]

First time I hear about it.

ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) Celebrates Ruby Year - ISRO

ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) was established on September 06, 1976 for facilitating to-and-fro communication conduit for launch vehicles and satellites of ISRO, in addition to carrying out satellite mission operations. Since then, its growth is in tune with the...

www.isro.gov.in

In order to meet the continuous Telemetry requirements of GSLV, an intermediate down range station at Brunei and a down range station at Biak (Indonesia) were established during 1998 that continued to serve all East-bound PSLV/GSLV Missions. As Biak station has some exclusive passes that are not visible to Indian stations, it is optimally utilised to support the satellite operations as well. The initiation of ISTRAC Network Modernisation (in 2 phases) during the year 2000, brought in the state-of-the-art systems with miniaturisation and multi-functional capabilities, paving the way for automated network control. The second S/C-Band terminal was put up at Biak during 2005 to support LEOP operations of GEO Missions. Also, during this period, fully automated VHF terminals were established at low-cost to support HAMSAT Mission. In 2006, the upgradation of Bangalore and Lucknow S/X terminals from 3.7 M to 11 M terminal was completed. And, a new 11 M S-Band TTC terminal was established in MOX complex during 2007 towards support of Cartosat missions.

Downrange Station at Biak (Indonesia)

 

[trishna_amrta]

I know that there is some interest to make Biak a spaceport, last time RU said they are interested to work with us to build it(during pakdef era), not sure how is that plan going.
And recently the govt try to approach E Musk.
If somehow we can make biak as launch site maybe it will gonna be like Tanegashima.

As usual, side was asking too much. Nobody wants to invest in high-tech related field while being forced to accept unskilled, inexperience, and unqualified manpower. The eventually went to French Guiana. The French Guiana has already an established orbital launch facility located at 5° latitude with an ocean eastward of it. Although Biak still have the advantage of located at 1° latitude with bigger ocean eastward of it, the requirement to accept local manpower + developing the site are just too much for any investors particularly for commercial oriented (for profit) firm such as SpaceX

 

[NEKO]

As usual, side was asking too much. Nobody wants to invest in high-tech related field while being forced to accept unskilled, inexperience, and unqualified manpower. The eventually went to French Guiana. The French Guiana has already an established orbital launch facility located at 5° latitude with an ocean eastward of it. Although Biak still have the advantage of located at 1° latitude with bigger ocean eastward of it, the requirement to accept local manpower + developing the site are just too much for any investors particularly for commercial oriented (for profit) firm such as SpaceX

But won't the profit per-launch still be somewhat good, and if they get long term permission then maybe it is worth with all of that investment.

 

[trishna_amrta]

But won't the profit per-launch still be somewhat good, and if they get long term permission then maybe it is worth with all of that investment.

Nobody is going to make any profit when there is a major mishap due to incompetence

 

[NEKO]

I don't think they will use local manpower for essential position.

 

[trishna_amrta]

I don't think they will use local manpower for essential position.

gov't disagree with you

 

[Rajendra Chola]

IF only ISRO is willing to partner with Indonesia to build orbital launch facility iat Biak. The place (Biak) is geographically the best spot on earth for orbital launch (better than even Guiana)

Can be done. But could be costly for both India and Indonesia. I mean as soon as a rocket is made, it goes through a series of tests, and still undergoes final tests at the launch port. I mean India can make rockets and ship there while Indonesians can take over testing, integration, assembly and launch. But the payload has to come from Indonesia or international customers. Money has to be spent by Indonesian govt for all such infra. Local manufacturing isn't going to be possible as well with India launching as few as 12-15 rockets per annum and Indian private sector who has invested will be unhappy. We are already building our second space port near the southern tip of Indian mainland. India can train Indonesian scientists by having them sent to ISRO for 2-3 year tenures.

 

[trishna_amrta]

India can train Indonesian scientists by having them sent to ISRO for 2-3 year tenures.

eeech you mean Engineer rightScientist & Engineer are two very different occupation

Anyway, I strongly doubt one could find suitable engineers to be trained in space engineering, be that abroad or domestically. heck finding engineer who spoke & write English is already difficult enough already (example : just take a look how most posters here wrote their post). I will not even surprise if one of those so-called scientist or engineer is a firm believer of flat-earth