ISRO Joins International Charter on Space and Major Disasters

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), today (January 9, 2002) signed the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters that envisages cooperation in the use of space facilities in the event of natural or technological disasters. Dr K Kasturirangan, Chairman, ISRO, signed the Charter at Antariksh Bhavan, the Headquarters of ISRO.

International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was mooted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French National Space Agency (CNES) in June 2000 as an initiative by space agencies to provide earth observation data on request by disaster relief agencies to support them in their emergency operations. By signing this Charter, ISRO has indicated its willingness to provide remote sensing data from its Indian remote sensing satellites for the purpose of disaster relief. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is another space agency that has already joined the Charter.