French President Nicolas Sarkozy is going to visit Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 4th December. Sarkozy is slated to interact with top scientists from across the country.
ISRO sources said the President, during his one-hour visit, is expected to be briefed about some of activities of the organisation as also about the Megha-Tropiques climate satellite. Sarkozy, accompanied by wife Carla Bruni, will start his four-day India's visit from this IT hub with a brief stopover at the ISRO facility with which France has a long-standing association.
France is collaborating with ISRO in developing two satellites for studying weather and climatic conditions. Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques in French meaning Tropics), being jointly developed by ISRO and French National Space Agency (CNES), is expected to be launched by 2011 to study tropical climate.
Another ISRO-CNES mission to be launched next year is SARAL (Satellite for Argos and Altika) for seasonal forecasting, oceanography and climate studies.
ISRO has been working closely with the Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales, CNES, and has a long-standing collaboration. Several joint research projects have been undertaken by the agencies. Several scientists of both agencies have visited each others' facilities and exchanged views.
