The Isro will roll-out a rival to Google Earth, the hugely popular online satellite imagery service, by the end of the month.
The project, dubbed Bhuvan , will allow users to zoom into areas as small as 10 metres wide, compared to the 200 metre wide zoom limit on Google Earth.
Bhuvan will use a network of satellites to create a high-resolution, bird’s-eye view of India – and later, possibly, the rest of the world – that will be accessible at no cost online and will compete with Google Earth. If a pilot version passes muster, Bhuvan will be fully operational by the spring. There are also plans to incorporate a global positioning system (GPS) into the online tool.
G Madhavan Nair, the Isro chairman, said: “This will not be a mere browser, but the mechanism for providing satellite images and thematic maps for developmental planning.”
Alex Burmaster, of Nielsen, the web analysts, said: “The amount of time that people spend online is reaching a plateau and websites are battling furiously for attention. Anything that relates to where a person is, saves a user time, and makes the web more relevant — especially geographically — is big news.”
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