In yet another major step towards being self reliant in the country's space programme and tap into opportunities in the global marketplace, the Indian Space Research Organisation will launch GSLV Mark III-D1 with a payload of four tonnes on June 5.

“As on today, ISRO has the capability to launch payloads of up to 2.2 tonnes and anything above that it had to tap Ariane or other launch facilities. This will be a significant move from us,” the ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, AS Kumar, said.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III is a gamechanger capable of launching 4-tonne category of satellites from Sriharikota. It packs an Indian cryogenic third stage and higher payload as against the current GSLV.

Apart from deploying advanced spacecraft technologies, the satellite would carry ka and ku-band payload along with a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer that will help research space radiation.

Outreach

The Space Secretary said that ISRO will soon launch an innovative Outreach centre in Hyderabad, which would serve as a hub/centre for research, and base for start-ups and entrepreneurs to explore new business opportunities.

The huge amount of data collected by various space missions, and its learnings would be made accessible to people. This centre is expected to come up near Jeedimatla in the city limits.

In a boost to the country's quest to drive electric vehicles, ISRO has outlined plans to share its learnings and expertise in lithium ion battery technologies for commercial use.

Kiran Kumar said, “Over the years, ISRO has developed a number of technologies towards indigenisation and self reliance, and the capability of developing efficient lithium ion batteries is one such area which we can share for further development.”

“We have developed technologies which help batteries run for up to 10-12 years and even more. This learning can be shared with entrepreneurs for commercialisation and come out with cost effective batteries for use in electric vehicles and other applications.” he said.

Speaking at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, the ISRO chief said: “ISRO handled more than 151 missions that have been completed. These include 88 satellite programmes and 59 satellite launch vehicles.”

“The launch of 104 satellites on a single mission earlier this year demonstrated our space technology capability,” he said.

Referring to ISRO contributions, he said that the technologies developed and data available through various satellites it has launched is being used for applications in agriculture, weather forecasting and in tele-medicine. Efforts are on to see if a Postman could serve as a link between farmers and government, he said.