ISRO to outsource production of Polar and Small Launch Vehicles to private Industries
New Delhi, August 30: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will outsource the production of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and Small Satellite Launch Vehicles to private Industries. The Indian Space agency Chairman K Sivan informed media persons in Bengaluru on Wednesday that private industries will play a major role in capacity building.
He said the ISRO will concentrate on Gaganyaan, India’s first manned mission to outer space. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of 2022 for this task when India celebrates its 75th Independence Day.
The ISRO Chief said that the critical technology needed for the mission is already developed and the process is on to form a new project team and management structure. He explained that Orbital module comprising of a crew module and a Service module is designed to carry three astronauts to a 400-kilometer orbit around the Earth for seven days.
Sivan said the Indian Air Force will identify six persons who can be trained to be astronauts. The assistance of the country's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma and that of foreign space agencies will be sought for the training of astronauts.
As part of the Gaganyaan programme, ISRO will take up the first unmanned mission by December 2020, the second by June 2021, before embarking upon the manned mission by December 2021. The Chairman also informed that the second demonstration flight of Reusable Launch Vehicle for futuristic launches will be held in the mid of next year.
ISRO has its hands full. It wants to have 22 launches in a year and is also working on Chandrayaan 2 apart from carrying out the onerous task of sending Indian astronaut to space by 2022. Hence ISRO is seeking Industry participation for capacity building of infrastructure. To boost ISRO’s partnership with the industry the sixth edition of biennial Space Expo will be held in Bengaluru from September 6 to 8th. Over 100 exhibitors, 56 speakers, 600 delegates and participants from frontline global space agencies will converge for the event. A pavilion on Gaganyaan project by ISRO will be the star attraction for the public visiting the expo.