Express News Service By

BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hoping that private industry in the country will participate in a joint venture between public sector companies, private industry and ISRO to produce launch vehicles and communication satellites in the future.

Addressing a gathering of industry delegates at the inauguration of the Bengaluru Space Expo 2014, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said the space agency was in talks with industry bodies like CII and that a lot of progress had been made in the area.

“In a couple of years, ideas for an entity composed of private, public players and ISRO will have crystalised. In about five years, we are hoping a PSLV or a GSLV will be produced by the entity,” he said.

Radhakrishan said that the entity would be modelled on the lines of Arianespace, the commercial satellite launch company.

He also spoke about the impact of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on the country and on ISRO being declared as the winner of the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace and Disarmament.

“I took five days leave recently and spent my time talking to students. A Class 10 student visited my house with his father, when I asked him about MOM, he recited the names of the payloads without a mistake. This mission has ignited the minds of people. Everywhere I went, I did not have to discuss MOM at all, politicians, people, students and others would speak about it,” he said.

The data being collected from the Mars Orbiter will soon be used by ISRO and NASA to enhance knowledge about the red planet. “We have to see how to proceed and what should be done with the data,” he said. NASA is expected to discuss the issue with ISRO in two months time.

Francois Richier, the Ambassador of France to India, was also present at the event. “Fifty years ago, France and India signed a one page agreement to cooperate with each other in space research. Today, ISRO is the second biggest partner for CNES (French Space Agency) after NASA. Space research is one of the four pillars of Indo French cooperation,” he said.

Commenting on Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, Richier said, “We have heard the call to ‘Make in India’. We hope to contribute by partnering with industry. As a matter of principle, we are open to all programmes with ISRO and after the PM’s expected visit to France, maybe some joint programme can be launched,” he said.

Technology Transfer to Pvt Firms

Antrix, ISRO’s commercial wing on Thursday will carry out a technology transfer programme with two private companies in which technologies like ‘Dual Polarisation Lidar’ and ‘Hard Anodisation Process at Room Temperature’ will be transferred. The agreements for the same are expected to be signed on Thursday. The organisation however declined to name the two companies expected to take part in the technology transfer process.

Sessions

The three-day expo will have several sessions chaired by senior officials from ISRO along with participation from private industry. A space expo, with around 75 participants was also opened on Wednesday.