Australia honours divers involved in Thai cave rescue
Canberra, July 24 : The Australian government on Tuesday honoured divers who were involved in the rescue of a Thai boys' soccer team from a flooded cave earlier this month.
Governor General Peter Cosgrove presented cave divers Craig Challen and Dr Richard Harris, as well as seven other Australians, with the Order of Australia and the Star of Courage for their roles in saving 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from the cave in northern Thailand, Efe news reported.
The award ceremony was held at Government House in Canberra and was attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Australia's Ambassador to Thailand, among other senior figures including military and police officials.
"It was a great honour to meet our @AusFedPolice heroes involved in the rescue in Chiang Rai at the award ceremony today at Government House @TurnbullMalcolm @AngusTaylorMP", Dutton tweeted.
Cosgrove wrote on his Facebook page that the reception was the first time the rescuers had been together since they returned to Australia from Thailand on July 13, just a few days after the Thai soccer team was taken out of the cave in the complex rescue operation.
Following their removal from the cave, the boys who ranged in age from 11-16 and their 25-year-old coach, spent several days in a hospital in Chiang Rai where they received medical and psychological support.
Most of the boys were due to be ordained as Buddhist monks.
The team, known as the Wild Boars, originally entered Tham Luang cave on June 23 after a soccer training session but became trapped by a sudden storm surge that partially flooded the vast cave system.
A massive search operation was undertaken involving large numbers of Thai police officers and soldiers and several international diving experts. A pair of British divers finally found the boys on July 2 on a rock embankment.
Saman Kunan, a former Thai Navy Seal diver died during the operation after he delivered oxygen tanks to the boys.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
