Access to space and beyond depends heavily on our mastery over propulsion systems, S Ramakrishnan, director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, said on Wednesday.
Ramakrishnan was delivering the 13th Dr S Sreenivasan memorial lecture on ‘Propulsion in Space-Challenges and Perspectives’ organised by the Aeronautical Society of India, Thiruvananthapuram branch, and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
Spacecraft propulsion systems must operate in hostile environments for extended periods of time, which calls for high reliability and precision for achieving mission objectives. “Reaching out into space, even within the solar system, calls for propulsion system capabilities. It is believed that even the Mars mission will be feasible only by inducting nuclear propulsion systems,” he said.
VSSC director P S Veeraraghavan presided over the function. D Kartikesan, associate director, LPSC, Mahendragiri, GSLV MkIII project director S Somanath, ASI Thiruvananthapuram branch chairman C H Kunhiraman and vice chairman K Sivan also spoke.