A Mix Of Young And Middleaged People Will Train For Gaganyaan

With Indian Space Research Organisation planning 28 launches in 2020, ISRO chairman K. Sivan has his hands full.

- Abhinav Singh

Undeterred by failures, he and his colleagues are drawing lessons from Chandrayaan-2, which ended in September last year after a software glitch caused the lander Vikram to crash-land on the moon.

In an exclusive interview, Sivan talked to THE WEEK about the missions ahead. Chandrayaan-3 will reattempt a soft-landing on the moon next year; Gaganyaan, India’s first manned space mission, is on schedule; and Aditya L1, ISRO’s first mission to study the sun, will help scientists analyse the sun’s corona.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q/ What are ISRO’s major projects and missions this year?

A/ The small satellite launch vehicle (GSAT-20) is the first development flight this year. GSAT-20 is a high-throughput satellite that will provide high bandwidth connectivity to rural and remote areas of the country, such as the northeast. It will also facilitate flight connectivity.

The other major project is the Aditya L1 mission. Then there is the launch of IDRSS (Indian Data Relay Satellite System). The work on Chandrayaan-3 is also going on; it should be launched in the next 16 months or so.

Q/ What is IDRSS?

A/ The IDRSS mission is aimed at giving 100 per cent coverage for the Gaganyaan mission. It will continuously develop contact with the manned Gaganyaan mission wherever it goes. IDRSS will be placed in a geostationary orbit so that Gaganyaan can be continuously monitored.

Q/ How is work on Gaganyaan progressing?