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ISRO has sought an allocation of ₹14,000 crore for FY21 from the Centre in the Budget.
The space agency has, in a pre-budget request, cited Chandrayaan-3 and Gaganyaan missions and sought around ₹14,000 crore.
K Sivan told reporters: “We have asked for ₹14,000 crore, we don’t know how much we will get.” This year, major capex will be towards landing acquisition to set up the country’s second space port at Thoothukudi in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu, measuring 2,300 acres.
The work has been initiated with ISRO engaging with the State government. Talking about expenditure spend on the upcoming Chandrayaan-3, Sivan said that the lander and rover of the third lunar mission will cost around ₹250 crore. The entire cost of the mission, however, will be over ₹615 crore.
He added that the experience ISRO has got from Chandrayaan-2 and the available infrastructure will bring down the cost of Chandrayaan-3. The total cost of the previous mission (Chandrayaan-2) was around ₹960 crore.
“Work on the Aditya-1 mission, conceived as a 400 kg class satellite carrying one payload, is also progressing well,” said Sivan.
Talking about 2019, Sivan said: “We had a strategy to expand our programmes; we wanted to expand ISRO horizontally — the capacity-building and outreach programme — and, finally, reduce physical work in ISRO and involve the private sector. To some extent, we have achieved it.”
Sivan said that a second launch port, exclusively for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), is being planned at Thoothukudi. A second Vehicle Assembly Building in Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, was recently dedicated to the nation during the year for increasing the launch frequency.
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