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GS Paper: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

  • Why are blue straggler stars different from the norm?

    Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru have studied the eccentricities of blue straggler stars.

    What are Blue Straggler Stars?

    • A blue straggler is a main-sequence star in an open or globular cluster that is more luminous and bluer than stars at the main sequence turnoff point for the cluster.
    • Blue stragglers were first discovered by Allan Sandage in 1953 while performing photometry of the stars in the globular cluster M3.

    What did the Indian researchers study?

    • Eccentricity is the deviation of a planets’ or stars’ orbit from circularity — the higher the eccentricity, the greater the elliptical orbit.
    • For this, the researchers also made use of the observations by the UVIT instrument (Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope) of ASTROSAT, India’s first science observatory in space.

    (a) Stellar ageing of stars

    • To know what blue stragglers are, it is necessary to understand how stars are classified and their evolution, studied.
    • Our Sun, for example, is what is called a main sequence star, and, given its mass and age, it is expected that once it has converted all its hydrogen into helium, its core will get denser, while outer layers expand.
    • So, it will bloat into a red giant.
    • After this phase, its fuel spent, it will shrink, becoming a smaller, cooling star called a white dwarf star at the end of its life.

    (b) Sequencing of stars

    • To study the behaviour of the star, you could plot a graph of the colour of a star, which is an indication of its surface temperature, against its magnitude, which is related to the total energy given off by it.
    • If you do this for all the stars in a globular cluster, a large number of stars are seen to find a place within a band known as the main sequence.
    • Our Sun is a main sequence star, too, and the expectation is that all main sequence stars follow a pattern of evolution pretty much like our Sun’s fate, which was described earlier.
    • There are a few stars that, just at the stage of their lives, when they are expected to start expanding in size and cooling down, do just the opposite.
    • They grow brighter and hotter and blue in colour, thus standing out from the cooler red stars in their vicinity in the colour-magnitude diagram.
    • Since they lag behind their peers in the evolution, they are called stragglers, more specifically, blue stragglers, because of their hot, blue colour.

    Outcome of the research: Reasons for Blue Stragglers behaviour

    • The puzzle of why a blue straggler is more massive, and energetic than expected may be resolved in several ways.
    • One that these do not belong to the family of stars in the cluster, and hence are not expected to have the group properties.
    • Second, the straggler draws matter from the giant companion and grows more massive, hot and blue, and the red giant ends up as a normal or smaller white dwarf.
    • The third possibility is that the straggler draws matter from a companion star, but that there is a third star that facilitates this process.

     

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  • New research about Jupiter’s moon Europa

    A team of researchers from Stanford University have said that on one of Jupiter’s moons Europa, a prime candidate for life in the solar system might have abundance of water pockets beneath formations called double ridges.

    About Europa

    • Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon and its diameter is about one-quarter that of the Earth.
    • Even though Europa has a very thin oxygen atmosphere, it is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to find present-day environments that are suitable for life beyond the Earth.
    • It is also believed that underneath Europa’s icy surface the amount of water is twice that on Earth.
    • NASA notes that scientists believe Europa’s ice shell is 15-25 km thick and is floating on an ocean, which is estimated to be 60-150 km deep.
    • Interestingly, while its diameter is less than the Earth’s, Europa probably contains twice the amount of the water in all of the Earth’s oceans.
    • NASA is expected to launch its Europa Clipper in 2024.
    • The module will orbit Jupiter and conduct multiple close flybys to Europa to gather data on the moon’s atmosphere, surface and its interior.

    What is the new finding?

    • It is already known that Europa, whose surface is mostly solid water ice, contains water beneath it.
    • The researchers are now saying that the double ridges – the formations which are most common on Europa’s surface and are similar to those seen on Earth’s Greenland ice sheet .
    • They are formed over shallow pockets of water.

    Significance of the recent findings

    • The central implication is that the shallow water pockets beneath the double ridge increase the potential habitability of the moon.
    • The ice shell, which is potentially miles thick, has been a difficult prospect for scientists to sample.
    • But according to the new evidence, the ice shell is believed to be less of a barrier and more of a dynamic system.
    • This means that the ice shell does not behave like an inert block of ice, but rather undergoes a variety of geological and hydrological processes.
    • This suggests active volcanism and thus a possibility for life.

     

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  • Russia’s new nuclear missile ‘Sarmat’

    Amidst stiff resistance from Ukraine in the ongoing war and harsh sanctions imposed by the West, Russia went ahead and tested its new Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Sarmat.

    What is Sarmat?

    • The RS-28 Sarmat (NATO name Satan-II) is reported to be able to carry ten or more warheads and decoys
    • It has the capability of firing over either of the earth’s poles with a range of 11,000 to 18,000 km.
    • It is expected to pose a significant challenge to the ground-and-satellite-based radar tracking systems of the western powers, particularly the USA.
    • The ten warheads are Multiple Independently-Targetable Re-entry Vehicles and each has a blast yield of .75 MT.
    • The Sarmat will also be the first Russian missile which can carry smaller hypersonic boost-glide vehicles. These are manoeuvrable and hard to intercept.
    • It is a liquid-fuelled missile as compared to US ICBMs which have moved on to solid fuel systems.

    Who is it named after?

    • The Sarmat is named after nomadic tribes that roamed the steppes of present-day Southern Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan in the early medieval period.
    • Sarmatians were highly developed in horsemanship and warfare.
    • It goes on to say that the administrative capabilities and political expertise of Sarmatians contributed to their gaining widespread influence and by the 5th century BC.
    • They held control of the land between the Urals and the Don River.
    • In the 4th century they crossed the Don and conquered the Scythians, replacing them as rulers of almost all of southern Russia by the 2nd century.

    Was Russia known to be developing this missile?

    • It was widely known that Russia was developing a new ICBM to replace its older ones.
    • An announcement in this regard was made by Vladimir Putin in 2018 while making his State of the Nation address to the Federal Assembly.
    • He had stated at the time that the first Regiment fully armed with Sarmat ICBM will be operational by the end of 2022.
    • The deteriorating relations between Russia and the Western Powers is said to have given an impetus to its development.

     

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  • ISRO develops Space Bricks from Martian Soil

    Researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a way to make bricks from Martian soil with the help of bacteria and urea.

    Space Bricks

    • ISRO and IISc have collaborated to develop a novel scalable technique of manufacturing space bricks using Martian Simulant Soil (MSS).
    • The team first made the slurry by mixing Martian soil with guar gum, a bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii, urea and nickel chloride (NiCl2).
    • This slurry can be poured into moulds of any desired shape, and over a few days the bacteria convert the urea into crystals of calcium carbonate.
    • These crystals, along with biopolymers secreted by the microbes act as cement holding the soil particles together.
    • This method ensures that the bricks are less porous, which was a problem with other methods used to make Martian bricks.
    • The bacteria seep deep into the pore spaces, using their own proteins to bind the particles together, decreasing porosity and leading to stronger bricks.

    Their significance

    • In the past, the team had made bricks out of lunar soil using a similar method.
    • These ‘space bricks’ can be used to construct building-like structures on Mars that could facilitate human settlement on the red planet.

     

     

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  • WHO & Traditional Medicine

    PM Modi, along with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, will perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the first-of-its-kind WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

    What is Traditional Medicine?

    • The WHO describes traditional medicine as the total sum of the “knowledge, skills and practices indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness”.
    • Its reach encompasses ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well as modern medicines.
    • According to WHO estimates, 80% of the world’s population uses traditional medicine.

    Traditional medicine in India

    • It is often defined as including practices and therapies — such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha — that have been part of Indian tradition historically, as well as others — such as homeopathy — that became part of Indian tradition over the years.
    • Ayurveda and yoga are practised widely across the country.
    • The Siddha system is followed predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
    • The Sowa-Rigpa System is practised mainly in Leh-Ladakh and Himalayan regions such as Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Lahaul & Spiti.

    What will the GCTM be about?

    • The GCTM will aim to focus on evidence-based research, innovation, and data analysis to optimise the contribution of traditional medicine to global health.
    • Its main focus will to develop norms, standards and guidelines in technical areas relating to traditional medicine.
    • It will seek to set policies and standards on traditional medicine products and help countries create a comprehensive, safe, and high-quality health system.
    • The GCTM will support efforts to implement the WHO’s Traditional Medicine Strategy (2014-23).
    • It will serve as the hub, and focus on building a “solid evidence base” for policies and “help countries integrate it as appropriate into their health systems”.

    Why has the WHO felt the need to advance knowledge of traditional medicine?

    • Almost all WHO members have reported widespread use of traditional medicine.
    • These member states have asked for its support in creating a body of reliable evidence and data on traditional medicine practices and products.
    • The WHO has found that the national health systems and strategies do not yet fully integrate traditional medicine workers, accredited courses and health facilities.
    • It has stressed the need to conserve biodiversity and sustainability as about 40% of approved pharmaceutical products today derive from natural substances.
    • It has referred to modernization of the ways traditional medicine is being studied. Artificial intelligence is now used to map evidence and trends in traditional medicine.

     

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  • Why are vaccines administered into the upper arm?

    Almost everyone vaccinated for Covid-19 over the last 16 months will remember that he or she received a quick prick in the upper arm.

    Why vaccines are generally administered into muscle?

    • This is because most vaccines, including those for Covid-19, are most effective when administered through the intramuscular route into the upper arm muscle, known as the deltoid.
    • There are several reasons, but the most important one is that the muscles have a rich blood supply network.
    • This means whenever a vaccine carrying an antigen is injected into it, the muscle releases the antigen, which gets dispersed by the muscular vasculature, or the arrangement of blood vessels in the muscle.
    • The antigen then gets picked up by a type of immune cells called dendritic cells, which function by showing antigens on their surface to other cells of the immune system.
    • The dendritic cells carry the antigen through the lymphatic fluid to the lymph node.

    Role of T Cells

    • T Cells also called T lymphocyte, type of leukocyte (white blood cell) that is an essential part of the immune system.
    • T cells are one of two primary types of lymphocytes—B cells being the second type—that determine the specificity of the immune response to antigens (foreign substances) in the body.
    • Through the course of research over the years, it is understood that the lymph nodes have T cells and B cells — the body’s primary protector cells.
    • Once this antigen gets flagged and is given to the T cells and B cells that is how we start developing an immune response against a particular virus.
    • It could be any of the new viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, or the previous viruses which we have been running vaccination programs for.

    Other options for vaccination

    • Conversely, if the vaccine is administered into the subcutaneous fat tissue [between the skin and the muscle], which has a poor blood supply, absorption of the antigen vaccine is poor and therefore one may have failed immune response.
    • Similarly, the additives which could be toxic, could cause a local reaction.
    • The same thing could happen when the vaccine is administered intradermally (just below the outermost skin layer, the epidermis).
    • Hence, the route chosen now for most vaccines is intramuscular.
    • Also, compared to the skin or subcutaneous tissue, the muscles have fewer pain receptors, and so an intramuscular injection does not hurt as much as a subcutaneous or an intradermal injection.

    But why the upper arm muscle in particular?

    • In some vaccines, such as that for rabies, the immunogenicity — the ability of any cell or tissue to provoke an immune response — increases when it is administered in the arm.
    • If administered in subcutaneous fat tissues located at the thigh or hips, these vaccines show a lower immunogenicity and thus there is a chance of vaccine failure.

    Why not administer the vaccine directly into the vein?

    • This is to ensure the ‘depot effect’, or release of medication slowly over time to enable longer effectiveness.
    • When given intravenously, the vaccine is quickly absorbed into the circulation.
    • The intramuscular method takes some time to absorb the vaccine.
    • Wherever a vaccination programme is carried out, it is carried out for the masses.
    • To deposit the vaccine, the easiest route would be the oral route (like the polio vaccine).
    • However, for other vaccines that need to be administered intravenously or intramuscularly (enabling wider field-based administration), the intramuscular route is chosen from a public health perspective over the intravenous route.

    Which vaccines are administered through other routes?

    • One of the oldest vaccines that for smallpox, was given by scarification of the skin.
    • However, with time, doctors realised there are better ways to vaccinate beneficiaries.
    • These included the intradermal route, the subcutaneous route, the intramuscular route, oral, and nasal routes.
    • There are only two exceptions that continue to be administered through the intradermal route.
    • These are the vaccines for BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin) and for tuberculosis because these two vaccines continue to work empirically well when administered through the intradermal route.

     

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  • Recombinant Variants of SARS-CoV-2

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has flagged the emergence of a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus — the XE recombinant.

    How are variants created?

    • SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is an RNA virus which evolves by accumulating genetic errors in its genome.
    • These errors are produced when the virus infects a person and makes copies of itself inside the host’s cells.
    • These errors (otherwise called mutations) are therefore a by-product of replication of SARS-CoV-2 inside the cell and may be carried forward as the virus continues to infect people.
    • When viruses having a specific set of errors or mutations infect a number of people, this forms a cluster of infections descending from a common parental virus genome and is known as a lineage or a variant of the virus.

    Who name these variants?

    • The PANGO network, an open global consortium of researchers from across the world, provides a system for naming different lineages of SARS-CoV-2.
    • Pangolin was developed to implement the dynamic nomenclature of SARS-CoV-2 lineages, known as the Pango nomenclature.
    • These variants or lineages are widely followed by epidemiologists for tracking the evolution of SARS-CoV-2.

    What is a recombinant variant?

    • Apart from the errors in the virus genome, another process through which a virus increases its genetic diversity is recombination.
    • Recombination occurs when, in extremely rare situations, two different lineages of the virus co-infect the same cell in the host and exchange fragments of their individual genomes.
    • This generates a descendent variant having mutations that occurred in both the original lineages of the virus.
    • Recombination of lineages happens in a variety of other viruses, including those that cause influenza, as well as other coronaviruses.
    • Such recombination events occur typically in situations where two or more lineages of SARS-CoV-2 may be co-circulating in a certain region during the same time period.
    • This co-circulation of lineages provides an opportunity for recombination to occur between these two lineages of SARS-CoV-2.

    How many recombinant viruses have been detected?

    • While recombination events are not frequently observed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, multiple recombinant lineages have been designated during the pandemic.
    • The recombinant lineages are annotated by PANGO with an ‘X’ followed by an alphabet which indicates the order of discovery.
    • Some previously detected and designated lineages include XA, a recombinant of B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and B.1.177 detected in the U.K., lineage XB detected in the U.S., and lineage XC detected in Japan, which is a recombinant of B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and AY.29 sublineage of Delta.
    • Three new recombinant lineages of SARS-CoV-2 have been recently designated by the PANGO network and are being monitored — XD, XE, and XF.
    • Although currently present in a very low proportion of genomes in the U.K., early data from the country show evidence of community transmission of XF.

    Are recombinant variants more deadly?

    • Although recombination has been detected in SARS-CoV-2, it has not yet impacted public health in a unique way.
    • There is little evidence to suggest that recombinant lineages have a varied clinical outcome compared to the currently dominant Omicron variant.
    • It is certain at this point in time that more data will be needed to ascertain the impact of these lineages on the epidemiology of COVID-19.

    What are the methods through which recombinants are identified?

    • Identifying and tracking recombinant lineages for SARS-CoV-2 is a challenging task.
    • This would require specialised tools and the availability of primary (or raw) data for genome sequences as similar variant combinations could also arise from inadvertent errors in sequencing or analysis as well as contamination of sequencing experiments.
    • A cluster of recombinant genomes can be designated a lineage name by the PANGO network if it can be confirmed that samples in the cluster have a common origin and descend from two individual lineages of SARS-CoV-2.
    • Additionally, there should be at least 5 genomes in the public domain belonging to the cluster, indicating an ongoing transmission of the lineage.
    • Furthermore, screening the sequencing data of these samples should show no signs of contamination and meet the definition of a recombinant.

    Way ahead

    • Since recombinations are extremely rare occurrences, it is unclear how and why the viruses recombine.
    • It is, therefore, important to track the recombination of SARS-CoV-2 lineages because it may lead to the generation of a viral lineage that is better at infecting people or transmitting from host to host.
    • Monitoring circulating SARS-CoV-2 genomes for evidence of recombination will help gain a better understanding of the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2.
    • It will also provide information if a more “concerning” variant of the virus were to emerge.

     

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  • Indian Antarctic Bill Introduced in Lok Sabha

    The government has introduced the ‘Antarctica Bill, 2022’ in the Lok Sabha that envisages regulating visits and activities to Antarctica as well potential disputes that may arise among those present on the continent.

    Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

    Aims and objectives:

    • To provide for national measures to protect the Antarctic environment and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty
    • To provide a harmonious policy framework for India’s Antarctic activities through a well-established legal mechanism
    • Facilitate activities of the Indian Antarctic programme, including management of Antarctic tourism and sustainable development of fisheries
    • To prohibit Indian expedition to Antarctica or carrying of certain activities in Antarctica without a permit or the written authorisation of another party to the protocol
    • To provide for inspection in India by an officer designated by the Central government as an Inspector and to constitute an inspection team to carry out inspections in Antarctica

    Key feature: Committee on Antarctic governance

    • It will empower the government to establish a committee on Antarctic governance and environmental protection to monitor, implement and ensure compliance with the relevant international laws, emissions standards and rules of protection.
    • The panel is to be headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, as ex officio chairperson.
    • Among other roles, he has also been the vice-president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Science Council since 2018.
    • The committee will have ten members from various ministries, departments and organizations of the Union government, plus two experts on the Antarctic environment or other relevant areas.

    About Antarctica Treaty

    • Antarctica has a geographical area of 14 million sq. km and has had no indigenous population (i.e. “Antarcticans” don’t exist).
    • However, a few thousand people reside there, in some 40 research stations spread across the continent, throughout the year.
    • In 1959, 12 countries – Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the UK and the US signed the ‘Antarctic Treaty’.
    • Their aim was to prevent the continent from being militarised and to establish it as a centre of peaceful activities.
    • Later, more countries, including India, have become party to the treaty, and today it counts more than 54 members.
    • The treaty requires each party to take appropriate measures within its competence, including the adoption of laws and regulations, administrative actions and enforcement measures, to ensure compliance with the protocol.
    • Countries also signed the ‘Protocol on Environmental Protection’ to the Antarctic Treaty in 1991, which designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”.

    Need for the Antarctic Legislation

    • The growing presence of Indian scientists in Antarctica and the commitment to Antarctic research and protection prompted the government to adopt domestic legislation consistent with its obligations as a member of the Antarctic Treaty system.
    • These laws will enable India’s courts to deal with disputes or crimes committed in parts of Antarctica, and help build credibility vis-à-vis India’s participation.

    India at the Poles

    • India maintains two research stations on the continent: ‘Maitri’ (commissioned in 1989) at Schirmacher Hills and ‘Bharati’ (2012) at Larsemann Hills.
    • It has also launched 41 scientific expeditions every year thus far.
    • Together with the ‘Himadri’ station in Svalbard, above the Arctic circle, India is among an elite group of countries with multiple research in the polar regions.

     

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  • India’s Lithium Dependency Worries

    Lithium has been among the most sought-after mineral during the past few years, largely on the back of its usage in battery manufacturing.

    India is at odds with a major import source for the mineral, China.

    About Lithium

    • Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3.
    • It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
    • Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable and must be stored in mineral oil.
    • When cut, it exhibits a metallic lustre, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery grey, then black tarnish.
    • Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.
    • It is a crucial building block of the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), laptops and mobile phones.

    Lithium-ion batteries

    • A lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery.
    • They are commonly used for portable electronics and electric vehicles and are growing in popularity for military and aerospace applications.
    • A prototype Li-ion battery was developed by Akira Yoshino in 1985, based on earlier research by John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, Rachid Yazami and Koichi Mizushima during the 1970s–1980s.
    • In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to this trio “for the development of lithium-ion batteries”.

    Global producers of lithium

    • Australia and Chile have swapped positions as the world’s leading lithium-producing country over the past decade. In 2019, the world’s Top 5 lithium producers were:
    1. Australia – 52.9% of global production
    2. Chile – 21.5%
    3. China – 9.7%
    4. Argentina – 8.3%
    5. Zimbabwe – 2.1%
    • The U.S. ranked 7th with 1.2% of the world’s lithium production.
    • In 2019, the world’s Top 5 lithium reserves by country were:
    1. Chile – 55.5% of the world’s total
    2. Australia – 18.1%
    3. Argentina – 11.0%
    4. China – 6.5%
    5. U.S. – 4.1%

    Why is India looking for lithium?

    • India has been scouting for lithium reserves since the Centre’s push to boost the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country.
    • The ₹18,000 crore production-linked incentive scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery storage, a flagship incentive scheme for the industry has kicked off.
    • However, the supply of lithium, which is largely an imported product, has declined.
    • With India being in a diplomatic tussle with China, the supplies from the neighbouring country have declined and India too is looking for other import avenues.

    Why has the supply of lithium declined?

    • The supply of lithium has not been in line with the surge in demand from electric vehicle makers across the world.
    • China also is witnessing a mismatch between demand and supply, which has led to a rise in prices.

     

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  • What is Project NETRA?

    The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

    Project NETRA

    • The project will give India its own capability in space situational awareness (SSA) like the other space powers — which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites.
    • NETRA’s eventual goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, scene at 36,000 km where communication satellites operate.
    • The initial SSA will first be for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft.
    • Under NETRA the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data processing units and a control centre.
    • They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.
    • The NETRA effort would make India a part of international efforts towards tracking, warning about and mitigating space debris.

    What NETRA consists of?

    • In the plans are a high-precision, long range telescope in Leh and a radar in the North East.
    • Along with them, we will also use the Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) that we have put up at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, and the telescopes at Ponmudi and Mount Abu to get a broad SSA picture.
    • NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is an initiative of the U.S. and Canada that shares selective debris data with many countries.
    • The new SSA centre would consolidate debris tracking activities that are now spread across ISRO centres.
    • Currently there are 15 functional Indian communication satellites in the geostationary orbit of 36,000 km; 13 remote sensing satellites in LEO of up to 2,000 km; and eight navigation satellites in medium earth orbits.

    Why Space debris matters?

    • Space junk or debris consists of spent rocket stages, dead satellites, fragments of space objects and debris resulting from ASAT.
    • Hurtling at an average speed of 27,000 kmph in LEO, these objects pose a very real threat as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.
    • Last year, ISRO monitored 4,382 events in LEO and 3,148 events in the geostationary orbit where space objects closely approached Indian assets.
    • Fragments from the Fengyun-1C satellite (part of the anti-satellite test (ASAT) by China in 2007) and the Cosmos 2251-Iridium satellite collision in 2009 accounted for the maximum number of these threats.
    • The observations also covered 84 “close approaches of less than one km” between Starlink satellites and Indian assets.

    Enhancing Space situational awareness (SSA)

    • India, as a responsible space power, should have SSA as a part of a national capability, as in the U.S. This is a vital requirement for protecting our space assets and a force multiplier.
    • The SSA has a military quotient to it and adds a new ring to the country’s overall security.
    • It uses satellites, ground and air radars to secure its two countries against attacks from air, space or sea.
    • With long-range tracking radars, the SSA also provides us the capability of an early warning system against ballistic missiles coming in at a height.
    • Apart from radars and telescopes, he said India should also think of deploying satellites that track other satellites — as the U.S. and other space powers had done.
    • Combined with other elements of military intelligence SSA would help us to understand motives behind any suspicious orbit changes of other satellites and to know if they were spying on or harming our spacecraft.

     

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