Pvt Industry & Foreign Help

BENGALURU: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman Sivan K, on Wednesday said that the space agency has set itself a target of December 2021 for the launch of the human spaceflight programme (HSP), which is more ambitious than the 2022 deadline set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi .“We’ve set a target of December 2021 for the launch of HSP so that we have some margin in case there are glitches to still meet the prime minister’s deadline of 2022,” Sivan said. Before this, Isro will have to carry out a series of critical tests, including two unmanned missions—in December 2020 and June 2021—inflight abort test of the crew module among others.The agency will also have to develop other technologies like crew support systems, the service module and even the orbital module for the project. Conceding to these, Sivan also said that no decision pertaining to the number of astronauts (Gaganauts), or the number of days they will spend in space had been taken by the space agency so far.Answering a specific question on the project, he said: “We will have the capability of sending three people who can stay there for seven days. But whether or not we will send so many people for those number of days has not been taken. It will be taken later, closer to the mission date.”Given that this is the first time Isro is attempting to send humans to space, the number of Gaganauts and the number of days in space will be a minimum, keeping in mind the complexity of the mission and the tight schedule Isro is faced with.Pointing out that the HSP will require large scale infrastructure and other related systems to be put in place, Sivan urged the private industry to participate actively and work overnight to meet Modi’s deadline.“The private sector will contribute in a major way. We need huge facilities like mission control, tracking, launchpad preparations and so on where industry must work continuously,” he said.While reiterating that the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be responsible for selection of astronauts, Sivan, however, said: “Theoretically anybody can go to space, there will be no restrictions.”He said that he has already had an informal discussion with the IAF and that formal discussions will begin once the project team has been selected. “Once the astronauts are selected they will need two to three years of training, for which we will take help from other countries,” Sivan said.He said that it was wiser to take help from countries that have sent people into space not just in the training of astronauts, but even otherwise. “It is always wiser. It will help us prevent learning through trial-and-error and help us meet the tight schedule. We have countries with expertise, but who will help us in what will be worked out, keeping in mind the cost also,” he said.