15/06/2021 - S & T

KEY POINTS

·        The Covid-19 pandemic has put India’s space activities into suspension. To maximise the impact of reforms, the government must end hibernation of the space launch sector.

·        China launched the first module of its space station in the low-Earth orbit, and also launched its first 6G satellite.

·        India’s global share in the total space launches continues to be low at 1.8%. With the new competition, the satellite customer base that India’s commercially successful PSLV enjoyed for 20 years is shrinking considerably.

·        Case in point: 2014 NASA-ISRO joint project—the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NI-SAR) satellite—that is delayed by a year due to slow development of ISRO’s second-largest launch vehicle, the GSLV-Mk-II.

To be competitive

·        Private companies born during the pandemic must have uninhibited access to space testing infrastructure for quick vehicle development.

·        ISRO must urgently acquire SSLV space-proven credentials and make GSLV MK-III fit for its human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan.

·        Testing and on-field evaluation of reusable space planes for orbital and sub-orbital flights needs to be accelerated.

·        India now has more launch vehicles in testing and operational phases than ever before.  This requires the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to expand its ambit into commercial space transportation.

Kindly review and provide suggestions for improvement

kindly review and provide suggestions sir/mam

Please review

Kindly review