Siliguri (West Bengal):

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Sreedhara Panicker Somanath attended a programme at a school on Sunday and said that the space agency aims to explore human space flight activities and build space stations.

While speaking with the reporters, Sreedhara Panicker Somanath lauded the Chandrayaan Mission and said, “I would like to say today, after the successful Chandrayan Mission, the world is looking at us. We have announced Space Act Reforms in 2020 and there is a new Indian Space Policy 2023 by the government which has enabled private companies and institutions to come and work together.”

He further added, “We are looking at a substantial growth in the space activity in private but more than that, there are institutional works which are happening. There is a new vision that has been put forward by the government in terms of what we want to do in the space sector in future.”

The ISRO Chairman called the vision exciting and said, “And all of that is very exciting. We can explore human space flight activities, moon and other planets, and build space stations.

He added, “We also want to do a lot of economic activities in the space sector to create job, industries, and startups in the country.”

On being asked about the Prime Minister’s vision to send an astronaut to the moon by 2040, Somanath said, “It’s already there in the announcement.”

As per ISRO, the Government of India unleashed reforms in the space domain in 2020, opening the doors for enhanced participation of Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) in carrying out end-to-end activities in the space domain and providing them a level playing field.

Subsequent to these reforms, the Government sought to provide regulatory certainty for space activities by various stakeholders, to create a thriving space ecosystem.

The Indian Space Policy – 2023 was thus formulated as an overarching, composite and dynamic framework to implement the reform vision approved by Cabinet.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

ISRO chief S. Somnath on April 21 said that the Aditya L1 solar mission of the premier space research agency is continuously sending data about the Sun.
| Photo Credit: ANI

ISRO chief S. Somnath on April 21 said that the Aditya L1 solar mission of the premier space research agency is continuously sending data about the Sun.

Mr. Somnath, who was speaking to reporters here after being conferred a special award by jewellery major P.C. Chandra Group, said several instruments of the spacecraft are working continuously to feed data on many aspects.

“We are looking into the sun in a continuous manner – UV magnetic charges observation, corona graph observation, X-ray observation and other things,” he said.

India’s first solar mission craft, Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched on September 2, 2023.

“As we are keeping this satellite for five years, the observation will be analysed as a long-term measure. It is not like your instant news that something has been reported about the sun today, something else will happen tomorrow, things will happen every day,” he explained.

All observations will happen now but the results will be known later, he said.

“Eclipse happens as the sun is blocked by the moon. It is not like that anything happens within the sun during an eclipse. But obviously, our mission is also collecting data about the sun before, during and after an eclipse, Mr. Somnath said, while answering a question on whether the mission will throw light on the solar eclipse.

Speaking about collaborations with other space agencies, he said ISRO is building a joint satellite NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).

Hyderabad:

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath on Wednesday said that the space program has built “indigenous capability” in space sector adding that they have their own programs and ways to decide what to do with that in future.

S Somanath today visited Kalam’s Institute of Youth Excellence in Hyderabad and facilitated students.

“The space program has built indigenous capability in the space sector from building our rockets, satellites and our application programs to serve the country in civilian and strategic sectors. We have accomplished that. Today, we are a force to reckon with in the space sector and we have our own programs and ways to decide what to do with that in future. That is the power we have today. Now, with the opening of the space sector, private companies and start-ups are coming and this area is going to expand in terms of economic activity in space sector. The change is what is happening now,” he said.

Further, S Somanath said that Kalam’s Institute of Youth Excellence have been working hard to inspire young people.

“They have been working very hard to inspire young people especially to what Kalam did in the past, creating an inspirational story around India’s growth. Today I got the opportunity to interact with the students and I believe it will make them easier to understand the path they will take in the space sector. ISRO will help in best possible way to help them,” he said.

Earlier, Director General of European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher, heaped praise on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its recent successful launches and said that India’s accomplishments in space and especially in lunar exploration is ‘astonishing’.

Aschbacher posted an appreciation post on X, after ESA hosted its 323rd Council meeting in Paris which was attended by the ISRO Chairman, S Somanath.

“What India is accomplishing in space – especially in Lunar exploration – is astonishing. We hosted ISRO’s Chairman, Dr. S. Somanath at ESA Council today. It was a milestone occasion for Delegates to learn more about current and future plans for ESA-ISRO cooperation,” he posted on X.

India is now the first nation to reach near the Moon’s unexplored South Pole and ranks amongst the top four nations to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface.

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath has said that ‘Gaganyaan’, the country’s first human space flight programme, is expected to be launched by the end of 2025.

The nation will have a space station by the year 2035. The ISRO is already working on Chandrayaan-4 to retrieve samples from the moon, he said after receiving the Sree Sankara Award instituted by the Adi Sankara Trust at a programme held at Sree Sarada Vidyalaya, Kalady, on Saturday.

Adi Sankara Trust managing trustee K. Anand presented the award, comprising ₹1 lakh, citation, and a memento, to Mr. Somanath. The ISRO chief handed over the money for the welfare programmes of the trust, according to a release.

He also inaugurated the Sarada Progressive Advanced Research Collaboration at Sree Sarada Vidyalaya on the occasion.

Thiruvananthapuram:

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman S Somanath on Tuesday expressed his wish for increased female representation in the nation’s space missions.

He said this desire echoes the sentiments of the nation, including that of the Prime Minister.

During an event at the Pournami Kavu temple here, where Somanath initiated children into the world of letters as part of the Vidyarambam ceremony on Vijayadasami, he shared his expectation of seeing more female astronauts in ISRO’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission.

Somanath clarified that as astronauts had already been selected and trained, the participation of women won’t be feasible in Gaganyaan’s inaugural mission, which aims to send humans to space and bring them back safely to Earth.

However, he expressed optimism of greater female involvement in future Gaganyaan missions.

“More women astronauts in space missions is part of my wish list, and I only echoed the voice of the nation, including that of the Prime Minister,” he told PTI.

On Sunday, the ISRO chairman had said the space agency prefers woman fighter test pilots or female scientists for its much-awaited human space flight programme-Gaganyaan- and it is possible to send them in future.

He had also said ISRO would send a female humanoid – a robot that resembles a human – on its unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft next year.

The ambitious mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for three days and bring them safely back to Earth.

“No doubt about it…but we have to find out such possible (women) candidates in the future,” Somanath told PTI over phone in response to a query.

Acknowledging his spiritual inclination, the ISRO Chairman engaged in prayers on Vijayadasami day.

After completing his prayers at the temple on Tuesday, Somanath sat down for more than 30 minutes to help toddlers write their first letters to mark the beginning of their education.

Somanath justified his participation, saying the ceremony has got nothing to do with religion but is only considered as the initiation to education.

“Alphabets are worshipped in this temple. We can see the alphabets of the Malayalam language displayed as Gods and Goddesses here and worshipped. So they belong to us as knowledge,” Somanath said.

He said on the day of Vijayadasami, children are introduced to the domain of knowledge by gurus, who have already acquired something.

“So when they transfer that knowledge to the children, it is a blessing. So we transfer the blessing to them so that they can become great in the years to come,” the ISRO chief said.

He said it is a blessing of spirituality from the gurus to the children to help them learn and understand about the whole universe.

Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director Unnikrishnan were also present in Pournami Kavu to help the children with Vidyarambam.

Shashi Tharoor, MP, took part in the Vidyarambam ceremony at Sree Saraswathy Devi Temple in Poojappura.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Tirupati:

ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Friday visited the Sri Chengalamma Parameshwari temple in Sullurpeta in the run-up to the launch of Aditya-L1 mission and prayed for its success.

Somanath visited the temple at 7.30 am and offered prayers to the deity, said a temple official.

Talking to reporters, the ISRO chief said the Aditya mission will be launched at 11.50 am on Saturday.

He said the solar mission is for studying the Sun and it will take 125 days to reach the exact radius.

Following the Sun observatory mission, the space agency would launch various others including SSLV – D3 and PSLV in the coming days, he added.

About the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Somanath said everything is working well.

Srinivas Reddy, executive officer of Chengalamma Parameshwari temple, told PTI that ISRO officials visiting this temple before rocket launches had become a tradition, which goes back to 15 years.

Somanath had visited the temple on the eve of the Chandrayaan-3 mission also.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)