The Hindu Business Line : Kalam outlines agenda for Indian space missions

Inaugurating a symposium at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, organised to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first successful flight of the country's first satellite launch vehicle SLV-3, he urged India's space scientists to ensure that the country is part of the `space industrial revolution'.

India missed out on the first industrial revolution, but now has the opportunity to be a part of the next by joining the exclusive club of nations that are working to establish industry on the Moon and Mars, he emphasised.

According to Mr Kalam, eight possible missions that could be a part of India's space programme till 2030 include launching manned missions to the Moon and Mars and the establishment of an industrial base in space, development of cost-effective space transportation systems using hypersonic reusable vehicles, harnessing space energy for power and drinking water, developing a solar sail for inter-planetary missions and using space technology for integrated disaster management.

Development of operational Indian navigation satellites, refuelling, repair and maintenance of satellites in Geo orbits and creation of an international `Youth Power' connectivity satellite are the other suggestions on the eight-point agenda presented by the President.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has come a long way since the launch of SLV-3, must now look at developing cost-effective and reliable space transportation and manned missions, he said.

Mr Kalam expressed the belief that in five years' time, space technology will, in fact, make it possible to predict natural disasters such as earthquakes.

The President also visited the control centre of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, which is part of the VSSC, and witnessed the launch of a sounding rocket, and also had a meeting with some young scientists there.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, said that the State and the ISRO have worked together in many areas such as remote sensing and education.

Acknowledging ISRO's contributions to the development of Kerala, he pointed out that there are more avenues for cooperation between the State and the ISRO.

In his address to the gathering, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, recalled the early days of the space programme when great work was done despite the limited facilities available at that time.

The time has now come to transform the space programme into an initiative that positions India as the world's leading space power and a provider of reliable, low-cost access to space, he added. Mr B.N. Suresh, Director, VSSC also addressed the gathering.

The inaugural session of the symposium, organised to mark the first successful launch of SLV-3 on July 18, 1980, was followed by technical sessions on `Launch Vehicles - Past, Present and Way Ahead'.

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