Updated on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, 00:00 IST

New Delhi, Nov 22: President A P J Abdul Kalam today suggested enactment of a law to govern the use of outer space and regulate the use of data acquired from remote sensing satellites, particularly of sensitive installations.

"We have to have a law of space like the United States," Kalam said addressing the 26th Congress of Indian National Cartographic Association (INCA) here.

Even today the Department of Science and Technology, and defence officials hesitate to give a map of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, which is easily available on Google Earth, he said.

Seeking regulation of data from remote sensing satellites, the president suggested that violators of the law may face prosecution.

Kalam said a number of missions launched by the government require inputs from cartographers to accelerate the process of development.

"The mission of INCA should be to assist the implementation of developed India vision using their core competence in cartography in partnership with ISRO, NRSA, Survey of India and other organisations," he said.

Kalam said cartographers could use the remote sensing data to generate maps of areas having potential of geothermal energy.

Recalling his visit to Iceland last year, he said the volcanic island meets its key energy requirements using its vast geothermal potential.

He suggested that cartographers map such energy resources in Andaman and Nicobar islands as well as parts of Himachal Pradesh in a time-bound manner.

Bureau Report