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India's space program, which began six decades ago, has grown into a powerful national enterprise serving multiple sectors and global needs, said V. Narayanan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Wednesday.
"Sixty years back, we started the space program. Today, we are serving the humanity and the country in a very big way in multiple areas," he said. Narayanan listed the achievements across earth observation, telecommunication, television broadcasting, NavIC applications, disaster warning and mitigation, weather forecasting, food and water security, and the safety and security of every citizen of Bharat. He noted that ISRO is contributing "in multiple directions, almost 50 space applications, connecting trains in real time, connecting automobiles in real time, and monitoring the potential opportunities." Recalling India's transformation in communication, Narayanan said, "When we got independence, hardly any communication in the country and no villages had access. And today, some around 346 transponders, we have placed in orbit and almost 85.6 per cent people have got mobile connectivity." "Thirty years back, if you had to make a telephone call from Delhi to Kanyakumari... one has to go to a booth and book and wait for one and a half hours. But today that is not the situation... in milliseconds you will get connectivity not only within India, in abroad also," he added. "On 2nd November, we have placed the heaviest communication satellite, the CMO-03, using our own rocket, successfully in the space," Narayanan said. "Next month we are going to place a communication satellite on commercial basis for a developed country. USA we are going to do it." He said India is entering a phase of international cooperation. "The days have gone, the independent research was going on, but this is the time to have lot of international collaboration." Under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, Narayanan said India aims to build its own space station and expand the Gaganyaan human spaceflight program. "India is the only country and first country successfully soft landed near South Pole of moon (Chandrayaan-3)," he added, outlining Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 vision. Before March, ISRO plans "six to seven launches," including one commercial mission and private-sector PSLV launches. "So lot of exciting activities are going on," he concluded. (ANI)
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