[Commons-Law] Isro aims to rival Google Earth

[Prashant Iyengar]

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=323829
Isro aims to rival Google Earth
Fri May 23 2008 15:48:52 GMT+0530 (India Standard Time)
Press Trust Of India / Kolkata May 23, 2008, 0:07 IST

Adding a feather to its cap, the Indian Space Research Organisation
(Isro) will launch its own satellite imagery on the internet six
months from now, rivalling popular mapping service Google Earth.

"Our images will be on our website six months from now," Isro Chairman
G Madhavan Nair told reporters here after receiving the Rammohan
Puraskar.

Pointing out that certain locations with high security risks were
prohibited by law from being imaged, he said, "We are figuring that
out. The remaining places, of course, would be on the net."

Earlier, while receiving the award, Nair pointed out that India had
the world's largest constellation of remote-sensing satellites.

"With seven satellites in orbit, our remote-sensing satellites provide
imagery of the earth in a variety of spectral bands and with a
resolution of better than one metre. Data from our remote-sensing
satellites are received at about 20 stations across the globe,
including the US and Europe," he said.

Nair said the Village Resource Centres (VRC) established in 2004 were
providing a variety of space-based products and services, including
tele-education, tele-medicine and information on natural resources.

There were 400 VRCs in the country and of these seven are located in
West Bengal, he said, adding there were plans to set up 20 more in the
state.