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Step inside ESA's Main Control Room at the Operations Centre in Darmstadt, GermanyPhoto credit: ESA/J. Mai
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12 DEC. 2024
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On 4 December 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an agreement that will see ESA provide ground station support to the missions in ISRO’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.
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Representatives from ISRO and ESA sign an agreement that will see ESA provide ground segment support to ISRO’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme
Scope of the support
Gaganyaan is India’s first human spaceflight programme. It currently consists of three planned missions: two uncrewed missions followed by one crewed mission. ESA will support all three missions.
“The Network Operations Centre at ESA’s ESOC mission control centre in Germany will coordinate a series of radio antennas in the global European Space Tracking network (Estrack) that will enable ISRO to track, monitor and command the Gaganyaan crew module throughout each mission,” said Octave Procope-Mamert, Head of Ground Facility Operations at ESA.
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ESA's Kourou anntena in communication with the Intuitive Machines IM-1 Moon mission earlier this year
The first Gaganyaan mission, currently foreseen for 2025, will be supported by ESA’s 15 m antenna in Kourou, French Guiana.
Following missions will also be supported by antennas owned by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), all linked via ESOC.
Next steps
A suitcase-sized model of the Gaganyaan radio equipment will soon arrive at ESOC in Germany for radio frequency compatibility testing at the site’s Ground Segment Reference Facility. The compatibility tests will ensure that the spacecraft’s radio transmitter and receiver can effectively communicate with ESA’s antenna in Kourou.
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ISRO Gaganyaan crew module
ESA and ISRO have a long history of spaceflight cooperation. Recent highlights include ESA’s support to ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission in 2023.
ESA’s ground stations are also downlinking the bulk of the data gathered by ISRO’s Aditya-L1 solar observatory throughout its mission to study the Sun and the origins of space weather.
ISRO, meanwhile, recently oversaw the launch of ESA’s Proba-3 mission, the third mission of the Proba series to be launched from India.
The two space agencies are committed to deepening this collaboration in the future, with ESA’s support to ISRO’s human spaceflight programme seen as a significant step forward.
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Estrack: ESA's global ground station network
ESA's tracking station network – Estrack – is a global system of ground stations providing links between satellites in orbit and ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. The core Estrack network comprises six stations in six countries. The essential task of all ESA ground tracking stations is to communicate with spacecraft, transmitting commands and receiving scientific data and spacecraft status information.Our technically advanced stations can track spacecraft almost anywhere – circling Earth, watching the Sun, orbiting at the scientifically crucial Sun-Earth Lagrange points or voyaging deep into our Solar System.
ESA and Indian space agency ISRO agree on future cooperation
ESA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will exchange navigation, operations and data handling support on selected future space missions.ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ISRO Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan met virtually on 30 July to celebrate the signing of the new cross-support arrangement and discuss wider spaceflight collaboration.Upcoming ISRO human spaceflight, lunar exploration and solar research missions could be among the first supported under the new arrangement.
ISRO delegation visits ESA mission control
Distinguished visitors from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were welcomed to ESA's ESOC mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, in December 2023 to celebrate ESA's support to ISRO's Aditya-L1 ...
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