‘Space activities bill must come into force’

Private players can start participating in certain space-sector activities now with the formation of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) being approved, but the Space Activities Bill will have to come into force for them to start missions, said ISRO chairperson Dr K Sivan, in an interview to Anonna

Dutt. Edited excerpts:

How will the newly constituted body, IN-SPACe, function?

There are various verticals of the department of space, such as the ISRO, the autonomous bodies and the PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings). Now, IN-SPACe will be another vertical that will enable private players to carry out space activities. To do so, some systems are required. The Space Activities Bill should comprise this. We are working on it — we are trying to modify some existing policies to suit the entry of private players. The frameworks have to be defined.

Can the body function independently in the absence of the Bill?

Some of the activities can be started without the Bill...But for space launched by the private sector, the Bill would be required.

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected the missions of ISRO?

The outbreak has impacted our activities, which are mostly dependent on the 500 industries. But, we can make an assessment only after the situation becomes normal. In the meantime, some of our centres were producing sanitisers and working on creating ventilator systems. Geo-fencing and mapping were also taking place.

What about the big-ticket missions like Chandrayaan-3 and Gaganyaan?

We are working on these missions...The training of the selected astronauts is going on in Russia. It will take another eight to nine months.