NEW DELHI, Oct 15: The experts in the United States involved in developing complex rocket missions wanted India to share its space technology with them after witnessing the developmental activities of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S Somanath said on Sunday.
“Times have changed and India is capable of building the best of devices and rockets and that is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened the space sector to private players,” he said. “Our country is a very powerful nation. The knowledge and intelligence level in the country is one of the best in the world,” the ISRO chief said.
“In Chandrayaan-3, when we designed and developed the spacecraft, we invited experts from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA-JPL, who does all the rockets and most difficult mission.”
“About six people from NASA-JPL came and we explained Chandrayaan-3 to them. That was before the soft landing. We explained how we designed it and how our engineers made it… and how we are going to land on the Moon’s surface, and they just said, ‘No comments. Everything is going to be good’.”
“The US space experts asked, ‘Look at the scientific instruments, they are very cheap. Very easy to build and they are high technology. How did you build it? Why don’t you sell this to America’,” he said. So you can understand how the times have changed. We are capable of building the best equipment, best devices, and the best rockets in India. That is why our PM has opened up the space sector,” he said.
“Now we are telling you people to come and build rockets, satellites and make our nation more powerful in space technology. It is not only ISRO, everybody can do it in space. There is one company in Chennai building rockets called Agnikul and another in Hyderabad called Skyroot. At least in India, there are five companies today building rockets and satellites,” Mr Somanath said.
The most powerful tool is to dream, he said, adding, “Kalam sir told you that you should dream when you are awake and not in the night.” “Anybody has such dreams? Anybody wants to go to the Moon? When we landed Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon, I declared to PM Modi that India is on the Moon. And he asked when are you going to send an Indian to the Moon. So, some of you sitting here will do that job. Some of you will design the rocket which will go to the Moon,” he said.
“And at the launch of Chandrayaan-10, one of you will go on the rocket and that most probably will be a woman. A woman astronaut will go from India and then land on the Moon,” he said, amid cheers.
(Manas Dasgupta)
