GANDHINAGAR, Jan 11 : India would like to set up the first ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ or Indian Space Station by 2028 using the existing launcher capability, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath said here on Thursday.
He was speaking at the seminar on International Space Station organised as part of the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.
“We would like to put the first of the Bharatiya Antriksh Station by 2028 using the existing launcher capability. And we would like to convert it into a laboratory for you to come and do experiments,” he said.
“And who are the people who will come and do experiments over a period of time? By 2035, when we have human access, we must have laboratories, institutions, scientific establishments doing research, deriving benefits out of it and economic outcomes,” the ISRO chief added.
After setting it up, ISRO would like to find out companies and institutions who will be able to make use of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station and create economic activities out of it, Somanath said, adding it was something he believed was possible.
Human access to the moon will also have an economic impact because the strategic activity in the future will not be around earth alone, Somanath asserted.
Industries will have to build hundreds of spacecraft over the next 5-10 years for various works on earth that need to be done from space, presenting them with an opportunity to participate in the growth of the sector, he said.
“In the last one year, we have aggregated demands of the country in terms of agriculture, weather forecasting, disaster warning, water resources, cartography, strategic intelligence gathering, supplying to various users, and almost hundreds of spacecraft which have to be built over next 5-10 years of time have been identified,” he said.
How private players will keep it cost effective is another question which needs to be understood, the ISRO chairman pointed out. (PTI)
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