BEL & SAC, ISRO, sign MoU for productionisation of space-grade TWTAs in India

Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad, have signed an MoU to collaborate, indigenise and develop infrastructure for the productionisation of space-grade Travelling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTAs) in India. Signed at SAC Ahmedabad, the MoU will give a boost to the indigenisation of defence and space production and save foreign exchange for the country.

TWTA is a complex multi-disciplinary technology involving controlled interaction of microwave with electron beam under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. State-of-the-art fabrication and manufacturing facility for TWTAs has been established at BEL.

TWTAs developed by SAC, ISRO, and manufactured by BEL will be used in satellite communication and navigation payloads, microwave remote sensing radar payloads, scientific missions or probes and inter-spacecraft communications links. These items are integral parts of various communication and microwave remote sensing payloads.

Mr Nilesh M Desai, Director of SAC, Ahmedabad, and Mrs Niti Pandit, General Manager (Strategic Planning)/BEL-Corporate Office, signed the MoU in the presence of senior officials from both the organisations.