ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
U.S. and India expand space research with new observatory
The LIGO-India is expected to improve the network’s ability to locate cosmic events by observing signals from multiple positions around the globe.
-
1759953093.png)
Staff Reporter - Thu, 30, Apr 2026
- 02:20 EDT
- 24
Ajit Kumar Mohanty, secretary to the government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, and chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, lights a ceremonial flame as part of the LIGO-India groundbreaking event. Behind Mohanty to the left are foundation stones placed at the LIGO-India site in 2023. / Caltech
A new gravitational-wave observatory in India, operated in collaboration with U.S. institutions, broke ground April 23, 2026, at Aundha in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district, marking a major expansion of the global detection network.
The facility, known as LIGO-India, will join existing observatories in the United States, Italy and Japan. It will be funded by the Indian government and developed with technical support from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), managed by Caltech and MIT.
ALSO READ: Joint India-US venture NISAR shows Mexico City sinking
The site spans 174 acres and was selected for low seismic activity to limit interference with sensitive measurements. The observatory will mirror the design of U.S. LIGO detectors in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. It will include an advanced laser interferometer with two arms measuring 4 kilometers each.
“This has been 20 years in the making, and we are finally making it happen,” said Rana Adhikari, a physics professor at Caltech and a longtime member of the LIGO collaboration. “The clock has turned on, so it’s time for us to really get it going.”
LIGO first detected gravitational waves in 2015, confirming a key prediction of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. The discovery led to the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics for three of its founders. Since then, more than 200 detections have been confirmed, including signals from black hole and neutron star mergers.
The addition of LIGO-India is expected to improve the network’s ability to locate cosmic events by observing signals from multiple positions around the globe.
“By making a major investment in constructing the LIGO-India Observatory, India is not only enhancing our ability to detect, locate, and identify high energy cosmic collisions, it is positioning itself as a world leader in one of the most exciting frontiers of astrophysics,” said David Reitze, executive director of LIGO.
Researchers say advances in technology will make the new observatory more sensitive than earlier detectors.
“A lot of technology has improved in the last decade,” Adhikari said. “The stuff that we’ll install will be more advanced than what we have in the U.S. detectors right now. It’ll be fresh off the block.”
Scientists also expect improvements in identifying electromagnetic signals linked to gravitational-wave events.
“LIGO-India adds a new long baseline to the network of gravitational-wave interferometers that dramatically improves signal triangulation,” said Mansi Kasliwal, a Caltech astronomy professor. “Astronomers will have a much better chance to literally see the light from neutron star mergers.”
Indian institutions will build the infrastructure and manage operations, with more than 60 institutions and hundreds of researchers expected to contribute.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login