Hyderabad will now be connected to the icy continent of Antarctica. The new ground station in Antarctica will be linked to the remote sensing unit at Shadnagar on the city’s outskirts. The city-based Electronics Corporation of India Limited on Friday supplied highly sensitive and sophisticated antenna for satellite communication and remote sensing operations in Antarctica. The equipment will be located at India’s Antarctic research station, Bharti, which will be linked to Hyderabad.
The antenna has been designed especially for the extreme cold conditions of the frozen continent. D.S. Jain, deputy director, National Remote Sensing Centre, flagged off the lorry carrying the scientific consignment. ECIL engineers will install the equipment during the forthcoming summer in Antarctica from December to March. The project includes design, development, fabrication, testing, installation and commissioning of a Data Reception Station (DRS), operating in X and S bands for multi-mission remote sensing satellites and a Data Communication Station (DCS).