India’s Space Economy Is Vibrant, Much Needs To Be Done To Improve NaVIC Penetration For Handheld Devices: ISRO Chief

ISRO Chief S Somanath also said at the inaugural programme of the Catalyst and Indian Defence Conclave 2023 that ISRO will create high value technologies that will be required in the space sector.

ISRO chairman S Somanath has said that India’s space economy is “vibrant” in terms of the development of space-based technologies, and emphasised the need to improve the penetration of NaVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) into handheld devices.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) chairman S Somanath has said that India’s space economy is “vibrant” in terms of the development of space-based technologies, and emphasised the need to improve the penetration of NaVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) into handheld devices. Somanath also said at the inaugural programme of the Catalyst and Indian Defence Conclave 2023 held at the Constitution Club of India that ISRO will create high value technologies that will be required in the space sector. He said that about 200 to 300 companies have made a lot of contributions to the space sector, and that they have created a niche for themselves. 

Apart from explaining the importance of strengthening positioning, navigation and timing, Somanath emphasised the strategic capabilities of communications infrastructure.

He also said that private sector companies and startups were assuming greater importance.

Somanath said that the central government is in favour of “strengthening private partnership” in the strategic sector. 

Ajay Kumar Sood, Principle Scientific Advisor to the Government, who was also present at the event, said that technology plays an important role in bringing together the civil and military sectors involved in the country’s security. Sood said that the Centre’s Anusandhan Research Foundation aims to develop a synergy between various ministries.

Meanwhile, ISRO is preparing for Gaganyaan’s Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1). This mission will demonstrate the performance of the crew escape system. For the abort mission, the crew module, which is the structure in which astronauts will be present during the Gaganyaan crewed mission, will be unpressurised. 

ISRO has integrated and tested this unpressurised crew module, and will soon ship it to the launch complex. Its mass and size are the same as that of the actual Gaganyaan crew module. The unpressurised crew module consists of all the systems required for deceleration and recovery. These include a complete set of parachutes and recovery aids.