Megha Tropiques

In 2011, the Indo-French satellite Megha-Tropiques was successfully placed in orbit by the PSLV-C18 rocket as part of a key mission that will help understand global tropical weather. Along with Megha-Tropiques, three nano satellites – VesselSat – 1 from Luxembourg, SRMSat from SRM University, Chennai, and Jugnu from IIT, Kanpur were also placed in orbit.

The 1000-kg Megha-Tropiques carries three payloads — two by French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) and one jointly by ISRO and CNES — and a complementary scientific instrument. ISRO has built the satellite at a cost of Rs 80 crore with “equal contribution” from CNES. Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques denoting tropics in French) will investigate the contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics. Information beamed by Megha-Tropiques is expected to benefit not only India, but also all countries in the Indian Ocean region and other parts of the world. Megha Tropiques opens up a new era of atmospheric research, especially in the tropical weather system.