BENGALURU: Soon after the successful launch of the GSLV-F17, placing the advanced Earth Observation Satellite (EOS)-05 in the intended geostationary orbit, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan set the tone for other missions. He said that this calendar year, six more launches are being scheduled, including the NVS-03 and the first uncrewed launch of the crewed Gaganyaan mission.
He said the Gaganyaan mission is a technology-intensive mission, and the vehicle is human-rated. He said, “Till today, around 8,000 tests have been completed. Unlike other satellite missions, the safety of human life is very important. So three uncrewed missions are planned, followed by the crewed mission.
The first uncrewed mission is getting ready for launch; followed by the test results, we will go for two more uncrewed missions.” The ISRO chief added that the Vikram Sarabhai Space Station has completed its activities and the orbital module is going on at the UR Rao Satellite Centre, “A lot of development work has been completed, including the crew escape development. The environmental control and safety system works are in the advanced stages. The human rating of the rocket and the human-centric product development has also been done.”
About the pace of development of the third launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Narayanan said, “It is ongoing as per the targeted plan. By next March the Kulasekharapatnam launch pad will be ready.”
He added, “The launchpad has been established by the centre. We are giving the operation and maintenance of the launchpad to private players. This policy decision has been taken after the reforms announced in the space sector by the centre. From this launchpad, ISRO and private launches will take place.”
The major advantage of this is to improve the space sector and economy, he said. It is also aimed at helping the youth get better job opportunities. “When the space sector reform was announced by the Union government, there was only one start-up company working in the country; today around 440 start-ups are working. Lakhs of people are getting job opportunities, and a lot of growth is happening in this area,” he added.