India and Russia are in talks over the possibility of hosting each other's ground stations aimed at improving accuracy of their national satellite navigation systems, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan said in an interview
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2019) India and Russia are in talks over the possibility of hosting each other's ground stations aimed at improving accuracy of their national satellite navigation systems, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan said in an interview.
"We want to set up our ground station for our NavIC system in Russia. Russia, in turn, wants to set up a ground station in India for its satellite navigation system. The Russian ground station will be in Bengaluru while ours is likely to be in Moscow," Sivan told the IANS news agency on Sunday.
Asked about possible purchase of Russian components for India's manned space mission Gaganyaan, the space agency chief said that the talks were still underway.
"Nothing has been finalised. We have to see whether we need to buy their components. The components have to be suitable for us," Sivan added.
India plans to send its first crewed mission, set to comprise three astronauts, to space by 2022, which will mark the 75th anniversary of its independence, with Russia expected to assist it. In December, Indian Ambassador in Moscow Bala Venkatesh Varma told Sputnik that Russia and India would start practically cooperating on the matter as early as 2019.
