Another Master Control Facility in the
offing to cater to new satellites

In view of the Indian Space Research Organisation's plans to launch more satellites into the geo-stationary orbit in the next two-three years, a second Master Control Facility is being set up in Bhopal.

It will complement the first such facility in Hassan, Karnataka and is expected to be commissioned in the first half of next year, ISRO said.

The new MCF would operate, control and maintain the country's satellites in the geo-synchronous orbit (GSO).

Among other things, it would have communication links with MCF-Hassan and the ISRO centre in Bangalore and facilities for providing uninterrupted power.

Initially the MCF-Bhopal would be configured with the capability to monitor and control three satellites, ISRO said in its newsletter Space India.

At present, the primary MCF at Hassan controls seven satellites. ISRO has plans to launch about six more satellites in the GSO in the next 2-3 years.

The Indian National Satellites (called INSAT) are used for telecommunication, television broadcasting, meteorology and disaster warning.