Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scaling up notches with each passing year and with that, it always strives to enlarge its scale of operations. In a bid to push India higher in the field of science and technology the organisation seeks to launch atleast two space missions every month. As per the information from the Chairman of ISRO, India is ready to arrange two space mission launches on monthly basis and about 31 such launches are planned for the next sixteen months.

Mr. Kailasavadivoo Sivan, the chairman of the ISRO talked to the reporters on Sunday and said that their hands are full and space agency has a fully tight schedule as it targets to complete nine launches over the next five months. He further informed that about 22 missions are slated for the Feb-Dec 2019 span which means an aim of two per month.

ISRO’s next mission will see the launch of two commercial satellites onboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-42 rocket. Mr. K. Sivan said that the space agency has identified 50 satellites that are set for launch over the approaching three years. The Chairman of ISRO was attending an event commemorating the 99th Birthday of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme.  He also indicated that the ISRO will be looking to attempt Chandrayaan-2, its second lunar mission on January 03, 2019, a decade after the first mission.

Mr. Sivan added further that the launch of GSAT-20 has been scheduled in August next year to help expand 100 Gbps of internet connectivity throughout rural India with the help of the three other satellites. In the coming year, advanced satellites will be launched to ocean mapping, earth’s observation, etc. as per him. It was also informed that Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), ISRO’s new rocket would be tested in a first-of-its-kind initiative in the month of May-June 2019. The SSLV is 34 m long has a cost one-tenth of PSLV and will be used to launch satellites weighing 500-700 kg. In addition to that, the SSLV is a kind of on-demand launcher, which will require minimum infrastructure and can be prepared for launch in 72 hours as against 45-60 days preparation that is required by PSLV. ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix will be taking over SSLV production, once the designing is complete by mid-2019.

If that were not enough, ISRO aims to maximise its launching capacity by outsourcing the making of PSLV rockets to the Indian industry. A student satellite programme is also underway that will invite students across the nation to build their own satellites to be taken for launch by ISRO. Moreover, six incubation centres will be set up in the country in order to promote start-ups in the space sector, as per the Top official.

ISRO proved its might in 2017 as it scripted history with the launch of record 104 satellites into the polar sun synchronous orbit and since then it had went on to make some wonderful achievements. This year also started with a bang as the PSLV-C40 in its 42nd flight launched the 710 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite for earth observation along with a lift-off of 30 co-passenger satellites together weighing about 613 kg. India is matching pace with the very developed countries and ISRO has a great contribution in that respect.

With such an ambitious targets scheduled for the coming set of years, the ISRO will surely transcend the normal boundaries and achieve extraordinary feats in the near future.

--Deepak Kumar