Digantara Partners with Ispace to Map Lunar Orbit

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) Bengaluru-based start-up Digantara has announced a strategic partnership with Japanese firm ispace inc to map the orbit around the moon, a critical initiative aimed at monitoring space debris that could threaten future lunar missions.

Digantara, known for developing a 'Google Map' for the low earth orbit filled with thousands of satellites, is now joining forces with ispace to establish a cislunar situational awareness and domain infrastructure.

Cislunar refers to the region of space between Earth and the moon, serving as a crucial area for future space exploration and the development of technologies directed towards exploring deeper into the solar system.

The collaboration was finalized during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Tokyo for the 15th Annual India-Japan Summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Notably, India's Chandrayaan-2 orbiter around the moon had to execute four collision avoidance measures to avoid space debris in the cislunar area, highlighting the significance of space situational awareness for future lunar missions.

Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, expressed enthusiasm over the partnership: "ispace has been at the forefront of private lunar exploration, and we are thrilled to enhance their capabilities with our expertise in space domain awareness. This joint mission is setting the groundwork for a sustainable lunar ecosystem that balances safe operations, resource utilization, and enduring infrastructure."

The mission, by merging Digantara's proficiency in space situational awareness with ispace's lunar landing skills, aims to establish foundational infrastructure, logistics, and resource utilization around the moon, thereby building the core components for a sustainable lunar ecosystem according to Digantara's statement.

Takeshi Hakamada, the Founder and CEO of ispace, emphasized the broader impact: "Our collaboration with Digantara transcends simply landing on the lunar surface. It is about crafting an ecosystem that supports humanity’s enduring presence on the moon. By aligning with the QUAD framework, we ensure a cooperative, transparent, and sustainable future."

This partnership builds on India’s Chandrayaan missions, the upcoming ISRO-JAXA Lunar Polar Exploration (LuPEX) mission, and ispace’s pioneering commercial lunar undertakings, marking a pivotal point in Asia's lunar aspirations.

Furthermore, it represents a significant commercial collaboration between Indian and Japanese space start-ups, paving the way for a new era of cross-border innovation.

Earlier this year, Digantara launched the first commercial space surveillance satellite capable of tracking objects as small as 5 centimetres orbiting Earth.

(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)