NPN

India develops capability of orbit snooping: A private company in India has demonstrated the ability to capture the image of objects in Earth's orbit. Azista company's AFR satellite successfully captured images of the space station a few days ago. This is called orbit snooping. Such a capability is needed to protect tens of thousands of crores worth of Indian satellites in Earth orbit. New Delhi, February 8: India has acquired the spying capability of sensing the movement of other satellites in space. Azista Industries Pvt Ltd (Azista Industries) based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat has proved that it has such a capability. Its aerospace division can capture images of another satellite in the same orbit. Also known as Orbit Snooping. This is the first time that a private company in India has achieved this feat using its own developed technology. Azista's 80 kg earth observation satellite AFR (AFR – earth observing satellite) has succeeded in capturing images of the International Space Station. Both experiments conducted by Azista on February 3 were successful. The satellites are moving in orbit at a speed of about 50,000 km per hour. It is difficult to capture a scene of another object in orbit. It is very difficult especially when the sun is shining brightly. The very advanced software and cameras on Azista's satellite have successfully done this task. ISS was photographed from a distance of 245-300 km. Why is orbit snooping important? This snooping is helpful in identifying potentially harmful objects in orbit and enemy satellites. Many satellites worth thousands of crores of rupees are orbiting from India. These satellites are being used for important tasks ranging from defense to communication. It is very important to keep an eye on the orbit to ensure that these are not damaged by attack by enemy countries or otherwise. Thus, orbit snooping seems necessary. It is remarkable that a private company in India has developed such a capability on its own. The government's action and intention to open up the space sector to the private sector seems to be bearing fruit.