ISRO sets up dedicated control centre ‘NETRA’ for SSA

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has set up a dedicated Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Control Centre named “NETRA”, at its ISTRAC campus at Peenya, Bengaluru. The ISRO SSA Control Centre ‘NETRA’ was formally inaugurated by ISRO Chairman K Sivan.

What is NETRA?

• The “NEtwork for space object TRacking and Analysis (NETRA)” will monitor, track and protect India’s space assets. It will function as a hub of all SSA activities within India.
• It has been set up as a ‘Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management (DSSAM)’ aiming to protect high valued space assets from space debris close approaches and collisions.
• The state-of-the-art facility, dedicated to SSA activities, will also help to coordinate between Indian agencies, their foreign counterparts and international bodies.
• The main elements of NETRA would be a radar, an optical telescope facility, and a control centre.

What is Space Situational Awareness (SSA)?

• SSA is the science of tracking objects (man-made and natural) that are in orbit and also predicting what they would be at a given point in time.
• Only the US, Russia and Europe have similar facility in place to track space objects and share collision warnings.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan.
• ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.