India role model to the world: ISRO Chief
By Sudarshan Kumar   |   Tuesday, 30 March 2010, 18:44 IST   |    49 Comments
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India role model to the world: ISRO Chief
Bangalore: Gone are the days, when India used to look at NASA or other satellite centres to launch satellites. Today, India is the first country to orbit 10 satellites in one single mission and the facilitator for a major discovery of water molecules and water ice on the lunar surface. Also, it is one of the six in the world with capability to make satellites and launch them from its own soil. Speaking at 34th Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore convocation, Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Chairman - Space Commission, Secretary - Department of Space and Chairman - ISRO said, "When I entered ISRO, it was in nascent phase, and now the heights we have reached in the space sector, is achieved with a shoestring budget as low as three percent of NASA's expenditures on space programmes." Adding to it, he also said that India is a front runner in the global comity playing pre-eminent roles in the International forums of space agencies and space-faring nations. According to ISRO's report, India is developing a winged reusable rocket, and the ISRO has configured a Technology Demonstrator as a first step towards realizing it. Scientists have already configured a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), and ISRO believes that it is the first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-reusable launch vehicle. The Indian satellite centre has also received foreign proposals evincing interest to send their instruments for hosting by the Chandrayaan-2 which would be jointly developed with Russia. According to ISRO, the Megha-Tropiques satellite, an Indo-French joint mission for the study of the tropical atmosphere and climate related aspects, is expected to be launched later this year. It is set to join a string of global spacecraft designated to study climate change. Radhakrishnan, who was conferred Post Graduate Diploma when the first convocation was held 34 years ago, with some of the renowned names like Kiran Karnik, Sudarshan P, Prof S Chandrasekhar (representing IIM-Ahmedabad and Calcutta) and many more, joined ISRO in its nascent phase and saw it evolve into a great team providing valuable and self-less service to the nation.