Collaboration between MRIC and ISRO for the implementation of the India Mauritius Joint Satellite

On the 1st of November 2023, the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) represented by Dr K.S. Sukon, chairperson of the MRIC, and India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), represented by H.E Mrs. K. N. Singla, High Commissioner, India to Mauritius signed a Memorandum of Understanding highlighting the modalities for the design, build, launch, deployment, and control of the India-Mauritius Joint Satellite (IMJS). The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Hon. D. Balgobin, Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation and Hon. Shree V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs & Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Republic of India.

The IMJS will be Mauritius' second satellite after MIR-SAT1. The whole project will be fully funded by the Government of India and implemented by ISRO in close collaboration with MRIC. ISRO and MRIC engineers will work in collaboration to design, assemble and integrate, test, launch, deploy and control and operate the IMJS. MRIC engineers will benefit from on-site training in ISRO to develop the satellite platform, associated systems, and the primary payload. The MRIC engineers will also be participating in milestone reviews and AIT (Assembly, Integration and Testing) activities of the satellite Platform along with the ISRO team to get hands on experience.  

The MRIC recently carried out a Technical Needs Assessment (for space data) Survey amongst key stakeholders in Mauritius. It was found that there is particular interest to use space data for decision making in fields such as maritime monitoring, climate change mitigation and agriculture monitoring. This survey prompted the MRIC engineers to propose the integration of a multispectral camera as the main payload of the IMJS. The Multispectral payload is a special camera which can capture several frequency bands of light which, when decoded with the appropriate software, could provide valuable data for land and sea surface monitoring. The level of details is strictly subject to the resolution of the Multispectral camera used and the status of the satellite in orbit.

A high-level committee, comprising of high officials from the parent Ministry, the top management of the MRIC and top management of ISRO met during the first week of January 2024 to set the baseline for the collaboration. This meeting was followed by a technical committee meeting, comprising of engineers of MRIC and ISRO who have started defining the technical details for the satellite. The Technical committee will meet on a regular basis to drive the project ahead. The whole project is expected to be completed in some 15 months’ time.