Isro sowing seeds of future technology to help next generation go beyond Earth
NewsBeezer
August 15, 2019
In the last 50 years since its founding, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) has come a long way in overcoming technological hurdles and achieving several milestones. In the early 1960s, Isro launched rockets with a payload of only 30-70 kg up to a height of 150 km from a Launchpad in Thumba in Kerala's Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) and now launched 4,000 kg of payload in the geostationary orbit at 36,000 km altitude. The agency's gigantic leap in space technology was phenomenal, whether it was the development of a low-temperature engine to power the heavy-duty launcher or India's heaviest Gsat-1
When Isro was founded on August 15, 1969, the country had neither space infrastructure nor know-how to fire large rockets. But now the agency has a number of missiles in the arsenal. The PSLV can not only lift over a hundred satellites at once, but also place satellites in different orbits in a single mission. Likewise, its GSLV missile is capable of launching bulky satellites into geo-orbit, and is also used to launch interplanetary missions such as Chandrayaan-2.
On the Golden Jubilee year of Isro, its chairman K Sivan told TOI, "For the past 50 years, Isro's main task has been to develop space technologies that would benefit ordinary people. We have therefore created a large space infrastructure, a space transportation system and various space applications to meet the needs of the Indian people and to fulfill the vision of the father of the Indian space program Vikram Sarabhai, who has always advocated the use of space technology for human well-being , "
Sivan said," We now aim for the second mission: to develop technologies that are needed for the future. The launch of interplanetary missions such as Mars Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan 1 and -2 missions is heading in this direction. We are sowing the seeds of future technologies so that our next generation can benefit from their benefits in 50 years' time. This is because resources on earth, such as water and energy, are used up quickly. We may need to rely on other heavenly bodies in the future to satisfy our basic needs. In order to find a way to these planets, we therefore start interplanetary missions. "
After the Chandrayaan 2 mission, the manned space program or Gagayaan will have top priority for Isro. "We need to start the mission by 2048, the deadline set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi." After completion of Gaganyaan by 2022, Isro will work to build India's own space station, "he said, referring to interplanetary missions such as Aditya (sun), Venus, and space science programs. "In order to carry a higher payload (over 4 tonnes) for interplanetary missions, Isro is also working on improving the lifting capability of GSLV-MkIII and developing a new launcher," Sivan told TOI. He said that a number of high-throughput satellites will be launched to provide digital connectivity to remote parts of the country.
The agency is also working on a mini-PSLV or Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, whose first demonstration test – The flight is scheduled for December this year. This SSLV rocket, which can be assembled in just 3-4 days, compared to 30-40 days for a normal rocket such as PSLV, will become a spinner on the and for the space agency in this form. "Whenever a satellite with a weight of up to 500 kg has to be started urgently, we can set up an SSLV at short notice," Sivan said.
Another key Isro project is the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). Sivan said, "Following the landing of Chandrayaan-2 in September, a demonstration test for RLV is planned, which will be a landing experiment." In the landing test, a RLV is shot into the sky with the help of a small rocket. The RLV glides back to Earth after a few kilometers and lands on a runway. If Isro can build its own Space Station in space after a few years, the RLV will play a key role in transporting people to and from the Space Station.
All these missions with big tickets will definitely require a lot of budget. Sivan says, "Money has never been an issue, as we've never faced a financial shortage, and whenever we asked the government for money for a big project, we got it." The Indian Space Agency is now known around the world for launching large-scale space programs such as Mars or Chandrayaan missions on a budget. In fact, the budget of a Hollywood movie is greater than the total cost of India's interplanetary mission such as the Mars Orbiter Mission. Chandrayaan-2 has cost Isro R's 978 crore (about $ 140 million), which is less than half the budget of the & # 39; Avengers Endgame & # 39 ;, whose budget was $ 356 million. It's also less than the budget of another Hollywood movie – Interstellar, a sci-fi movie shot in 2014 for $ 165 million.
With a series of interplanetary missions, Gaganyaan projects and space station projects, the next five years will be really busy for the Indian Space Agency. The major space programs also show that Isro has come a long way in the last 50 years, with strong technological development each year. The time is not far in which Isro will be able to launch space tourism or bring Indians on vacation to the moon.
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