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Project NETRA (Network for space object TRacking and Analysis) is an indigenous space-situational-awareness (SSA) initiative of ISRO. Announced publicly in September 2019, the programme gives India an independent capability to monitor, catalogue and predict orbital debris and near-Earth objects that could endanger Indian satellites.
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Orbital congestion has intensified with mega-constellations and anti-satellite tests, raising collision risk for India’s fleet of more than 50 operational satellites. Until NETRA, ISRO relied largely on publicly available data from the United States Space Command. A 2021 internal report noted that ISRO carried out 19 collision-avoidance manoeuvres that year, up from three in 2015.
Project NETRA integrates:
Sensors can detect debris as small as 10 cm in low Earth orbit (LEO) and larger objects in geosynchronous orbit (GEO).
NETRA strengthens India’s technological self-reliance while enhancing national security. An indigenous catalogue reduces reaction time for collision-avoidance and supports planned debris-removal missions and human-spaceflight programmes.
India shares SSA data with global partners and participates in the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). Analysts view NETRA as elevating India to peer status with the United States, Europe and Japan in cooperative SSA.
ISRO intends to: