India confident of manned space programme: ISRO
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Recent successes in Indias space programme have given the country the technological base to confidently approach the challenge of sending man to outer space, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation G. Madhavan Nair has said.
He stated this while inaugurating a national seminar on Aerospace Expanding Frontiers, organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Chapter of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), here on Friday.
The aerospace sector had grown phenomenally during the last decade in terms of technological development. The successful launch and recovery of the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment Module had given the country a deep insight into the technological aspects of aerothermodynamics, re-entry heating, navigation, guidance and control strategies pertaining to space vehicles.
Moreover, the Chandrayaan-1 mission had provided the country rich experience in the areas of mission planning, propulsion system, navigation and guidance required to undertake a planetary mission, he said.
Now the time was ideal for the scientists in the country to embark on the development of more challenging technologies such as re-entry systems and re-usable space vehicles.
He listed some of the advanced key technologies that need to be addressed immediately for the manned space mission now on the agenda of the countrys space programme.
Mr. Nair said that the successes in developing space vehicles and missiles notwithstanding, the countrys aerospace industry had fallen behind in developing its own civil aircraft.