India’s quest for the outer space
India would become only the fourth country after Russia, USA and China to have a human space flight programme. Incidentally, ISRO asserts the first Indian to go into space could well be a woman!
INDIA has a rich tradition of using outer space as a tool for national development. The poorest of the poor have always been the beneficiaries of India’s space technologies, from farmers to fisher folk, Indian satellites touch the lives of almost the entire 1,3 billion population.
As India celebrates its seventieth birthday, it has already entered the golden era of space technology, sectors like satellite television, banking, smart city development, weather forecasting, smart phones, e-governance and satellite-aided navigation are all catering to India’s unending appetite to deploy high technology to ease the life of the common man.
India’s quest for space has been pioneered by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), set up in 1969, and today has an annual budget of about $1,4 billion. The country has a constellation of 44 satellites in orbit and can now on its own, launch up to four tonnes of communication satellites into orbit.
This gives India end-to-end capabilities in space technology from making its own satellites to launching its own rockets and has even sent an Indian-made satellite Mangalyaan or the Mars Orbiter Mission all the way to Mars, travelling a distance of over 200 million kilometres.
The journey for ISRO began from the humble fishing village of Thumba on the coast of the Arabian Sea, where scientists used the premises of a church to set up the first rocket launch facilities and the first rockets were carried on bicycles and first satellites pulled on bullock carts.
Today, India’s heaviest rocket, the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III (GSLV MK III), also lovingly named “Bahubaali”, weighs a whopping 640 tonnes or the weight of more than 200 fully grown elephants. This elegant rocket had its maiden launch on June 5, 2017, when it launched a communications satellite GSAT-19 into orbit and promises to become the mainstay for all heavy lifts.
The first satellite to be launched by India was way back in 1972, when the 360 kilogramme Aryabhata satellite, named after India’s legendary mathematician, was lifted into orbit from the erstwhile USSR. This space science satellite paved the way for ISRO to reach for the stars. In the next few months, this year India hopes to launch its heaviest ever satellite GSAT-11 that will weigh about 5 725 kilogrammes.
By launching “Bahubaali”, the Indian space agency entered into a bold new world, muscling its way to make its mark in the world’s heavyweight multi-billion dollar launch market.
ISRO chairman Dr A S Kiran Kumar, a man of modest words said “we pushed ourselves to the limits to ensure that this new fully self-reliant Indian rocket succeeds in its maiden launch”.
This heavy lift rocket is capable of placing up to eight tonnes in a low Earth orbit, enough to carry India’s crew module. Incidentally, what may please Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi, a known space buff, is that this launch has “‘made in India’ boldly written all over it”.
ISRO has already prepared plans of hoisting a 2-3 member human crew into space as soon as the government gives it a sanction of about $3 billion-$4 billion.
The expectation is that the ISRO friendly Modi may want to leave his own stamp on history by initiating the human space flight programme before the end of his first term in 2019.
India would become only the fourth country after Russia, USA and China to have a human space flight programme. Incidentally, ISRO asserts the first Indian to go into space could well be a woman!
Kumar confirms “in principle it will be the GSLV Mk-3 or its variant that will be human rated in future”.
India already has two operational rockets, the workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that can hoist satellites of 1,5 tonnes into space and was the preferred vehicle for India’s maiden mission to Moon and Mars.
The second, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II, can hoist two tonne class of satellites.
Between them, ISRO has done 50 launches and recently even earned a world record by successfully placing 104 satellites in orbit, beating an old Russian record of hoisting 39 satellites in a single mission. This year, India embarked on space diplomacy like never before.
For the first time, New Delhi flexed its prowess of space technology by embarking on an unprecedented and un-chartered “stratospheric diplomacy” through a special Rs 450 crore gift for south Asians. India carved a very unique place in the universe, when New Delhi “gifted” a heavy weight bird in the sky to its neighbours through the “South Asia Satellite”.
India opened its heart out by extending its neighbourhood first policy beyond the stratosphere. Read full article on www. herald.co.zw