Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 22: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that even as India is making rapid strides towards achieving the goal of becoming a world power within next one decade, it has already attained the position of a world leader in “Space” technology through some of the recent landmark achievements.
Dr Jitendra Singh expressed these views at a meeting of Space Department officials accompanying Dr A.S.Kiran Kumar who came to pay a courtesy call during his first visit to union capital after taking over as the new Chairman of the prestigious Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) following superannuation of Dr K.Radhakrishnan.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, in more ways than one, ISRO and the Indian space activities truly illustrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” concept. In this regard, he referred to “Mangalyaan” and the successful launch of “Mars Orbiter Mission” (MOM) which was developed and executed through 100% indigenous sources, material and equipment, making India the first nation which had succeeded in its maiden attempt and ISRO, the first Asian agency to reach Mars orbit.
Similarly, India has achieved the distinction of providing cost effective launch pads for commercial satellites for several developed countries, he added.
Today ISRO conducts a variety of operations for foreign clients from developed nations, said Dr Jitendra Singh and informed that till December 2014, India had already launched over 30 foreign satellites for 19 countries. Its telecommunication satellite network is one of the largest in the world, he claimed.
Some of the world acclaimed scientists at the ISRO beginning from Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan down to contemporaries like Dr U.R.Rao and Dr K.Radhakrishnan have not only done the nation proud but have also inspired generations of youth in this country, said Dr Jitendra Singh and added that today, the space achievements of ISRO team are looked up by the whole world with great awe and reverence.
Dr A.S.Kiran Kumar, while appreciating Dr Jitendra Singh’s deep insight, gave a resume of some of the projects of ISRO in the near future and said , ISRO plans to carry out a Mission to the Sun during the next one year and Chandrayaan-II Mission to the Moon around 2016-17. Similarly, Astronomy Satellite Missions as well as Multimedia Broadcast Satellite Missions will also be carried forward to a higher functional level in the times to come, thus further raising the graph of ISRO capabilities in the international arena, he added.
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