KANNIYAKUMARI: Like the thrust heat issue that the spacecraft carrying astronaut Sunita Williams faced, which eventually delayed her return to earth, Indian scientists encountered a similar problem during an experiment conducted last year at the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said on Friday.
To a question from media persons over Sunita Williams recently expressing interest in visiting India, Narayanan said ISRO scientists had studied the thruster heat anomaly as early as last year.
Further, he informed that the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is likely to be launched in June from the GSLV Mark II platform.
“Another American communication satellite will also be launched by ISRO in July. In addition, with the cooperation of India and Japan, the Chandrayaan-5 mission carrying a 350-kg rover and a 6,500-kg lander will be launched in future,” he said.
The ISRO chief expressed hope of a rocket launch from the upcoming spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam in two years.
“ISRO will also establish a space park near Sunset Point in Kanniyakumari,” he said.