How many companies were shortlisted by ISRO to transfer its Lithium-ion cells technology?

India's latest communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched by European launch services provider- Arianespace's rocket from Kourou Launch Base in French Guiana on February 6, 2019. The Ariane-5 vehicle (Flight VA247) also carried Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 along with GSAT-31.

In the special mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will also launch 28 third-party satellites and will demonstrate its new technologies like three different orbits with a new variant of 'Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle' (PSLV) rocket in March, 2019. Electronic intelligence satellite 'Emisat' of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) weighs about 420 kg. After launching Emisat at an altitude of 763 km, the PSLV rocket will be brought down to put the remaining 28 satellites into orbit at an altitude of 504 km.

SpaceX launched the U.S. Air Force's newest 'GPS III' satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. The solar-powered spacecraft, dubbed "Vespucci," is the company's first official "National Security Space" mission. Vespucci's nickname honours Italian cartographer and explorer Amerigo Vespucci, after whom North and South America were named. It was competed through the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The successful GPS III SV01 mission marked SpaceX's 21st and final launch of 2018, beating the company's 2017 flight rate of 18 launches.

By using Indian multi-wavelength space observatory AstroSat, the astronomers from Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai have identified a new population of ultraviolet stars in the globular cluster NGC 2808. Globular clusters are collections of thousands to millions of stars, moving as one unit. These stars are tightly held together by gravity of the cluster itself, and are believed to have formed together at roughly the same time. The NGC 2808 is one of the most massive globular clusters that we know of, and is located at a distance of 47,000 light years from us. This cluster was observed by the team of researchers using the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat. So far, AstroSat has taken images of over 2,000 individual stars in NGC 2808 through various ultraviolet filters. AstroSat is the India's first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. It was launched in September 2015. It orbits in low earth equatorial orbit at altitude of 650 km and has mission life of 5 years. It observes universe in the optical, Ultraviolet (UV), low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

India's lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 will carry NASA's laser instruments. The U.S. space agency said that the laser instrument will help scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon. Chandrayaan 2 is scheduled to be launched in the month of April. NASA has confirmed that Chandrayaan 2 and Israeli lander Beresheet, due to touch down on April 11, will each carry NASA-owned laser retroreflector arrays. Chandrayaan-2 will be India's second mission to the Moon. It will include an orbiter and lander-rover module.

An international team of more than 200 astronomers from 18 countries has published the first phase of a major new radio sky survey at unprecedented sensitivity using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The survey discovered 3,00,000 hidden galaxies using radio astronomy in a tiny corner of the northern hemisphere at low radio frequency. It is believed that these findings will help shed new light on some of the Universe's deepest secrets. This includes the physics of black holes as well as research into how galaxy clusters evolve. The LOFAR telescope is operated by ASTRON in The Netherlands and is considered to be the world's leading telescope of its type. It is made up of a network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-km diameter satellite dish. It is capable of detecting light source beyond the power of optical instruments. Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

Scientists from Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar have developed world's Thinnest Material by making usage of Magnesium Diboride. It has its utility in next-generation materials and UV absorbing films.

Israel's first moon lander, the 585 kg "Beresheet" ("Genesis" in Hebrew), was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX in Florida, United States. At a cost of USD 100 million, it is the lowest-budget spacecraft to ever undertake such a mission. It is part of renewed global interest in the Moon, sometimes called the "Eighth Continent" of the Earth. The project is funded almost entirely by donations making it the first privately backed lunar lander mission.It was notably financed by businessman and philanthropist Morris Kahn. Other partners include Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel's space agency and Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology. Beresheet carries a "time capsule" loaded with digital files containing a Bible, children's drawings, Israeli songs, memories of a Holocaust survivor and the blue-and-white Israeli flag. Landing is the main mission, but the spacecraft also carries a scientific instrument to measure the lunar magnetic field, which will help understanding of the Moon's formation.

Scientists have discovered evidence of abundant water-bearing minerals on the surface of the near-earth asteroid Bennu. Data from NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that is currently orbiting the asteroid confirm the presence of aqueously altered, hydrated minerals on its surface. Scientists say similar objects may have seeded the earth with water and organic materials.

The year 2021 will be a busy year for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as it has set itself the target to send astronauts to space. The Gaganyaan project by the space agency will make India the fourth nation to independently send humans into space announced ISRO chief Dr. K Sivan. The Gaganyaan project was announced by PM Modi on Independence Day last year and union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad last month had said that three Indian astronauts will be sent to space for up to seven days by 2022 as part of the Gaganyaan.