Tapan Misra, a retired scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation, has founded a startup to make synthetic aperture radars (SAR) that will operate at low altitudes and can be fitted on drones to get more accurate images that can be used for military and civilian purposes.
“Initially we are developing a drone-based SAR. It will be a very high-resolution SAR which can provide very clear pictures even from low altitudes. I do not think there is anyone who is offering a drone-based SAR, because in the low atmosphere there is a lot of disturbance that interferes with the quality of the image. Usually, SARs are mounted on moving platforms like a reconnaissance aircraft or on satellites,” said Misra, who is chairman of the startup SISIR Radar, named after Sisir K Mitra, founder of the radio physics department of Calcutta University.
Misra’s son Soumya Misra and daughter-in-law Urmi Bhambhani are also part of the Ahmedabad-registered startup.
“If I make the same SAR that the ISRO is making, why will people come to me? We are trying to develop an SAR that can provide continuous imaging at a very high resolution. This is not possible for a normal SAR. We expect our product to be ready within the next two years,” said Misra, who was moved out as director of Ahmedabad’s Space Applications Centre in July 2018 and appointed an adviser to the ISRO chairman—a post from which he retired in January 2021.
The new startup is based out of temporary premises in Kolkata. “Though registered in Ahmedabad, we are currently based in Kolkata. The city has provided us with angel investors and it also has a number of microwave engineers, which is hard to find in Gujarat. My son and daughter-in-law have given up well-paying jobs to help me start this venture. My son is a graduate from IIT-Kanpur and has experience with startups,” Misra said, declining to name the investors or the funds invested in the startup.
When asked how a drone-based SAR will help civilians, the former ISRO scientist said, “A company providing crop insurance need not hire satellites. It can use a drone-based SAR to scan the farm and capture the images needed for insurance purposes. These drones can monitor pest attacks, observe mining activity and keep an eye on an infrastructure project or work under the rural job guarantee scheme.”
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