Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that ISRO technology is now part of daily life for fishermen, train passengers and farmers, as he inaugurated India’s first LED dome planetarium in Mysuru, Karnataka. The COSMOS-Mysuru Planetarium opened on 13 November, and Modi used the occasion to describe how satellites built by the Indian Space Research Organisation are being used on the ground. “Today our satellites are touching the heights of space, and at the same time, they are being used to make the lives of people better on Earth,” he said.
ISRO technology and warnings for fishermen
Modi pointed to an ISRO-developed satellite communication system that sends timely weather alerts to fishermen and tracks fishing boats fitted with receivers, so they can be guided back to shore during storms. This is one of the clearest examples of ISRO technology at work. The system is part of the Vessel Communication and Support System under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, which was launched from Palghar in Maharashtra on 30 August 2024 with an outlay of Rs 364 crore. Transponders developed by ISRO are being given to fishermen free of cost, and the government plans to fit them on one lakh fishing vessels in 13 coastal states and union territories.
The system showed its use during Cyclone Dana in October 2024, when warnings were sent to fishermen off the Odisha coast and vessels were advised to return before the storm made landfall. Officials sent a mass broadcast on the evening of 20 October 2024, and the vessels came back to shore by the morning of 21 October. The Nabhmitra application, which tracks vessel positions and speeds, helped officials estimate when each boat would reach the shore. The episode showed how ISRO technology can turn a satellite signal into a warning that reaches a boat at sea.
ISRO technology on trains and farms
Modi also referred to the Real-Time Train Tracking System, developed by Indian Railways in collaboration with ISRO, which gives passengers information on where their train is. The train system is another everyday use of ISRO technology. Satellite data, combined with field-level inputs, is also used under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to estimate crop yields and settle insurance claims. The Prime Minister said the government’s focus was “Science for Society”, with space technology aimed at public welfare rather than only at exploration.
The space programme itself has moved quickly in the past decade. Chandrayaan-3 made India the first country to land near the Moon’s south pole, and Aditya-L1 is India’s first space-based solar observatory. India has also demonstrated space docking and undocking, becoming the fourth country to do so, and an Indian astronaut recently visited the International Space Station. The experience and knowledge from that visit will feed into Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight programme. Each of these missions depended on ISRO technology built over decades.
ISRO technology and science for society
The opening of the space sector to private participation has created openings for startups and young entrepreneurs to build rockets, launch satellites and start new space ventures, Modi said. More than one crore students have benefited from over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs across the country, and the government has started the One Nation One Subscription initiative so educational and research institutions can read leading international scientific journals. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation has been set up to strengthen the research system, and a Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme launched last year is meant to give domestic researchers steady funding. The Prime Minister said the same ISRO technology that guides missions in space is now expected to serve farms, fishing boats and railways.
Modi recalled the country’s record at international science contests, including five Indian students at this year’s International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in Vietnam, where four won gold medals and one took silver. He traced the national slogan from “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” to “Jai Vigyan”, introduced by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and then to “Jai Anusandhan”. The Prime Minister greeted the gathering in Kannada and said the planetarium, built with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Mysore, would help children who visit it to learn about the universe return one day as scientists. He said the planetarium would keep that interest alive, and that ISRO technology would keep finding new uses on the ground.