India wants to monitor satellites from Fiji
January 23, 2023
By Chris Forrester
India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants to build a rocket and satellite tracking station on one of the islands of Fiji.
In particular, and in reports timed to coincide with ISRO’s International Science Festival in Bhopal, India has completed a technical survey in readiness for an upcoming scientific satellite launch (Adita-L11, which is a solar exploration mission).
There are alternate sites for the tracking station and a decision will emerge later. But the immediate task calls for the facility to monitor the satellite from an important ‘Lagrange point’ which is the precise position between the Earth and the Sun and which would therefore be continuously viewable from the Earth.
ISRO is reportedly seeking to generally expand its tracking stations, for this mission and others. Currently, it tends to use temporary, portable devices for tracking.