TRISHNA: India and France Fast-Track a Satellite to Map Earth's Water and Heat
India's Union Minister of State for Science and Technology met France's Minister for Higher Education, Research and Space on 28 September 2026 to review space cooperation.
Both sides agreed to fast-track TRISHNA, a joint satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and France's space agency CNES. It will be their third joint satellite, after Megha-Tropiques and SARAL.
TRISHNA will measure the temperature of land and water surfaces from space in fine detail. This helps track how much water crops use, spot drought stress early and study urban heat.
The launch is planned for 2027 on India's PSLV rocket from Sriharikota.
The two countries also discussed France's support for Gaganyaan (India's human spaceflight mission), such as supplying consumables and training flight surgeons, and new work on microgravity research, astronaut health and links between space start-ups.
The talks are part of the India-France Year of Innovation 2026.
India-France Space Cooperation (ISRO-CNES)
India and France have one of the oldest and closest space partnerships in the world. India's space agency ISRO and France's space agency CNES (Centre national d'études spatiales) have worked together for over 60 years. They have shared rocket technology, launched Indian satellites on French rockets and built joint satellites. Today they cooperate on Earth observation, human spaceflight, and space start-ups.
TRISHNA is the third joint satellite in this long partnership, after Megha-Tropiques and SARAL. The ministers' decision to fast-track it, along with new work on Gaganyaan and start-ups, shows the partnership moving from sharing rockets to building advanced science missions together.
Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing
Every object that is warm gives off invisible heat rays called infrared radiation. The warmer the object, the more it gives off. Thermal infrared remote sensing means using sensors on satellites or aircraft to measure this heat, so we can find the temperature of land, water, crops and cities from far away. It works day and night, because it does not need sunlight.
TRISHNA is a thermal infrared mission built to track water use and heat stress on land at a detail and frequency no earlier satellite managed together. Fast-tracking it means India could soon get regular heat maps to guide irrigation, drought response and city heat planning.
- TRISHNA full form: Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment
- Partners: ISRO (India) and CNES (France); third joint satellite after Megha-Tropiques (2011) and SARAL (2013)
- Instruments: VSWIR (ISRO) and TIR (CNES)
- Resolution: 57 m over land and coasts; 1 km over oceans and polar areas
- Revisit: about 3 days; orbit: sun-synchronous, about 761 km
- Mission life: 5 years; launch planned 2027 on PSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
- India has over 400 space start-ups
- Framework: India-France Year of Innovation 2026; Horizon 2047 roadmap (2023)