India’s historic arrival in the Red Planet’s orbit was aided by workers from Australia with engineers and technicians working at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) playing a critical role.
The CDSCC’s Deep Space Station 43, which contains the largest antenna dish in the southern hemisphere, captured the minute signals sent out by Mangalyaan satellite mission and confirmed its entry into the Martian orbit.
The successful first phase of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Mars Orbiter Mission was congratulated by Australian High Commissioner Patrick Suckling who said it was an example of the expanding scientific cooperation between the two nations which signed an MoU on civil space cooperation in 2012.
“The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is the prime station for the mission as it relays data to mission control at ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore. This is a critical element of this mission,” he said. “I commend ISRO on this historic event. It is an important milestone for Indian space research and exploration. I welcome Australia’s and India’s strengthening cooperation in space exploration,” he added.