Page 8 - The Indian EYE 071423

NATION JULY 14, 2023 | The Indian Eye 8

Third-time lucky: ISRO hopes

for a ‘soft and safe’ landing on Moon

with Chandrayan-3 mission

Chandrayaan-3 will lift off on July 14 and it will land on August 23, says ISRO chief

at G20 Space economy leaders’ meeting

OUR BUREAU
Bengaluru
D irector of Indian Space and
Organization
Research
(ISRO), S Somanath, has an-
nounced that the Chandrayaan-3, In-
dia’s planned third lunar exploration
mission, will be launched on July 14
at 2.35 pm.
The ISRO chief made the re-
mark on Day-1 of the Space Econ-
omy Leaders Meet held in Benga-
luru on Thursday as part of India’s
G20 Presidency. The meeting saw a
discussion on the possibilities of bi-
lateral partnership in sharing space
economy.
On the launch of Chandrayaan-3,
Somanath said, “On July 14 at 2.35
pm, Chandrayaan-3 will lift off and if
everything goes well, it will land (on
the moon) on August 23...the date is
decided based on when is the sunrise
on the moon, it will depend on the
calculations, but if it gets delayed India’s space economy was experiencing rapid growth with increasing revenue and more commercial actors entering the sector. He added that
then we will have to keep the landing studies suggest it could become a USD 1 trillion sector in the coming decades (ANI)
for the next month in September.”
He also said ISRO’s prime ob-
jective was to enable a safe and soft “We have already started the (Di- On the challenges in the space MoS, Ministry External Affairs,
landing of Chandrayaan-3. “Our wali) celebration. 16 out of 36 satel- economy, he said, “Challenges in the Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, said India
main objective is safe and soft land- lites have successfully separated safe- space economy, first and foremost, is has more than 400 private space com-
ing; all equipment will be fine if it ly, and the remaining 20 satellites will it is capital intensive. So, you have to panies working to harness this sector.
goes safe and there is a soft landing. be separated. The data will come a invest heavily to create the capability. “We also have a student outreach
We are good with the landing sys- little later and the operation of ob- And the return of investment comes programme. This programme is de-
tem. Rover will come out after land- serving is underway,” ISRO Chair- very late.” signed to cultivate scientific temper
ing, rover has 6 wheels, and we are man said post-launch. Representatives from 86 space among young minds. Space technol-
expecting the rover will work for 14 Lauding Prime Minister Naren- companies took part in the meeting. ogy can bring immense predictability
days on the moon...With the support dra Modi for this milestone, S So- India’s G20 sherpa, Amitabh to the varieties of climate changes,
of multiple cameras on the rover we manath said, “It is a historic mission. Kant said India’s space economy was agricultural harvest, food security,
will receive images. We have a solar It has been possible because of PM experiencing rapid growth with in- natural disasters, and even the distri-
panel on the rover. We already test- Modi’s support as he wanted LVM3 creasing revenue and more commer- bution of economic drought. These
ed it, and we have good results with to come into the commercial market, cial actors entering the sector. He uncertainties unfold the worst impact
the battery,” Somanath added. with NSIL in the forefront, to opera- added that studies suggest it could on developing countries,” Singh said.
Earlier, NewSpace India Limited tionalize our launch vehicles for ex- become a USD 1 trillion sector in the Day-1 of the Space Economy
(NSIL), a central public sector enter- ploring and expanding the commer- coming decades. Leaders Meet saw participation
prise under the Department of Space, cial domain.” “This exponential growth neces- from 27 countries and 33 industries.
had earlier signed two launch service The ISRO chief also informed sitates support from governments It showcased India’s industry capa-
contracts with Bharti-backed One- that partnerships between space worldwide. That’s why we are dis- bilities in the space sector. On the
Web, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) agencies, industries, and start-ups cussing space as a formal element concluding day, there will be a ses-
satellite communications company. were discussed in the meeting. within the G20 meeting,” Kant said. sion on Space Industry partnership.

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