THE SPACE MISSION OF A BILLION INDIAN DREAMS

The Gaganyaan programme has the potential to create an all new aerospace ecosystem for setting up associated industries in the country, boosting thousands of MSMEs in the sector and creating at least 15,000 jobs for Indian youth related to the domain. It will have huge geostrategic and geo-economic ramifications for South Asia’s geopolitical dynamics as India will become the only country in the region and the fourth country in the world with such a capability, writes AMARTYA SINHA

- AMARTYA SINHA

On August 15,2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced an ambitious national mission to send an Indian vyomanaut to space on board an Indian spacecraft launched into orbit by using an Indian rocket lifting-off from Indian soil by the year 2022. If successful, the mission codenamed- ‘Gaganyaan-1’, will place India in the big-league of three other space superpowers- the USA, Russia and China which have the capability to launch such complex missions.

Path towards heavy-lift capability

While the history of the Indian space programme dates back to late 1960s, the country became an orbital launch capable nation on July 18, 1980 with the first successful launch of ‘Rohini RS-1’ satellite to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) onboard an SLV-3 (Satellite Launch Vehicle-3) rocket which lifted-off from Sriharikota. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has come a long way since then. While SLV-3 was the first generation of Indian rockets capable of lifting very lightweight satellites weighing up to 40 kg to LEO, the much-improved ASLV (Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle) with a lift-off capacity of 150 kg to LEO replaced it as a more robust launcher by the late 1980s. But with the advent of newer platforms like the medium-lift capable PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket during the 1990s and the medium-heavy lift GSLV Mark-1 launcher armed with a Russian made cryogenic upper stage engine during the early 2000s, the foundations were gradually laid towards development of a heavy lift capability.