India’s space ambitions have grown steadily over the decades, guided by cooperation rather than rivalry, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said while addressing the inaugural session of the US-India Space Business Forum in Bengaluru on February 10.
“Space is for everyone, and the benefits from advances in the field should be enjoyed by every person on the globe,” said V. Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space, Government of India, and Chairperson of ISRO.
“India’s space programme was started not to compete with anybody, but to build advanced space technology to benefit the common man of India. Today, we strongly believe it is not only for India, but for the global community,” he added.
Recalling the early days of the programme, Mr. Narayanan said November 21, 1963 marked a turning point when the first rocket was launched from Indian soil. The Nike-Apache rocket was provided by the U.S., the sodium vapour payload came from France, and integration was done by ISRO scientists in a small church building.
He noted that collaboration with the U.S. continued in later missions. The U.S. partnered in Chandrayaan 1, which provided the first clear evidence of water on the moon. He also cited the Axiom mission, which included Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and the NISAR mission, a joint NASA-ISRO project, as examples of strong cooperation.
“Now, there is the India-USA civil space joint working group. A lot of things are happening in that area. ISRO personnel are being trained in NASA…. The human space flight programme is going to be a continuous programme. We are going to have a lot of collaborative efforts,” he said.
Highlighting India’s progress, Mr. Narayanan stated that 433 satellites from 34 countries have been launched from Indian soil, including the heaviest satellite launched for the U.S.
He also shared future plans. “The Prime Minister has given clear directions that we are going to build our own space station by 2035. It is going to be a five-module construction. The first module will be lifted off by 2028, and we are working on it,” he said.
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