At present, the US defense department controls the Global Positioning System (GPS). Whether out of ego, pride, or a sense of self-determination and security, other nations wish independence with their own system. Russia is in the process of restoring its own navigation system of 24 satellites, Glonass, by 2009. In addition, Europe is building a satellite navigation system, albeit not without funding difficulties, Galileo, which consists of 30 satellites, with a timetable of 2012-13 for implementation.
For next year’s Chandrayaan 1 mission, the ISRO may co-operate with Japanese Aerospace Exploratory Agency (JAXA). Chandrayaan 1, according to an agency report, will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on April 9, 2008. The ISRO is also planning to launch a radar imaging satellite (Risat) in the second half of 2008. ISRO collaborates with 26 countries for various missions and space applications. This includes a $60 million project for African countries. These countries will make use of space technology for various applications. China is also looking at collaborating with ISRO for building applications for agriculture and land management and is in talks with the Indian agency for using our training facility in Dehradun for space technology—Bangalore, India
