IDRSS (Gaganyaan crew)

In Context :
India plans to ring in its own era of space-to-space tracking and communication of its space assets in 2020 by putting up a innovative satellite series called the IDRSS (Indian Data Relay Satellite System).

In News :

• Work on the 2 IDRSS satellites planned initially has begun.
• The first of them are going to be sent towards the end of 2020. It will precede the pre-Gaganyaan experimental unmanned space flight which is ready to own a humanoid dummy.
• A second one will follow in 2021.
• The two will offer near total tracking, sending and receiving of data from the crew 24/7.

About :

• The IDRSS is planned to track and be constantly up-to-date with Indian satellites, particularly those in low-earth orbits which have limited coverage of earth.
• In the coming years, it'll be vital to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), whose roadmap is dotted with the advanced LEO missions like space platform , space docking, also as distant expeditions to moon, Mars and Venus. It will also be useful in monitoring launches.
• The first beneficiary would be the possible crew members of the Gaganyaan mission of 2022 who is fully and continuously up-to-date with mission control throughout their travel.

Source : The Hindu