Indian space sector to be turned into a business activity: ISRO chairman
Indian space sector is changing from a «closed» and «secretive» society to an open one and the objective behind it is to turn it into an economic or business activity instead of government programme, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said here on Saturday. The change in mindset has been influenced by how space-related activities in countries like the USA have been turned into an economic activity, Somnath said while speaking at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL) 2024 being held at Kanakakunnu Palace here.
The ISRO Chairman said that in the past 60 years, the work of the space sector — from making rockets to satellites — was aimed at societal application, for delivering services that benefit the common man.
As a result, the budget of the space programme was «very less» — Rs 10,000 crore, he said during a session of the fifth edition of the MBIFL.
So, with an aim to increase that by 10 times, it was decided to bring some changes to the space policy of the country, he added.
The changes would include delegating to the private sector the manufacture of rockets and satellites, research activity being done by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and increasing scientific missions like Chandrayaan, Aditya L1 and Gaganyaan, he said.
«We do not want the occasional Chandrayaan or Aditya mission. We need to have a sustained science programme. For that we primarily need to increase exploration of Mars and the Moon.
»We want our own space station, to do zero gravity space research with the
