Press Coverage

Even though these bold statements have excited the Space communities in the technology and application areas, it needs to be said that a policy statement such as this, which gives a "feel good" warmth, needs to be followed up with cold and hard actions. A statement is not a policy. A policy needs to be backed up with processes which will give rise to programs and projects. Example of policy implementation When the US was losing the Space race to the erstwhile USSR, President John F. Kennedy declared in September 1962 that "we choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too." is was followed by the Apollo Program, and with Apollo 11, the first human, an American, stepped on the Moon in July 1969. In these seven years, several US indus- tries blossomed and grew into global Space giants which supported the US to further its Space ventures, till the tragic failures of the Space Shule, which effectively closed down human spaceflight from American soil on American vehicles. In the first decade of the new millennium, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and many other private Space startups jumped in with new ideas and new programs. On May 30, 2020 aer nine years, NASA astronauts have once again ridden into Space from US soil on a US built vehicle. e only difference being that Falcon 9 launcher and the Crew Dragon spacecra were designed, built and launched by SpaceX from a completely refurbished and a very aesthetically aractive Pad 39A of the NASA launch complex. It is also important to note that an old hand like Boeing lost out to a bold startup like SpaceX. Origins of ISRO and its core purpose As far back as the early 1960s, a scientist, Vikram Sarabhai, working with the Depart- ment of Atomic Energy, realized that Space could play an important role in India's develop- When the US was losing the Space race to the erstwhile USSR , President John F. Kennedy declared in September 1962 that his country will "go to the Moon in this decade". is was followed by the Apollo Program, and with Apollo 11, the first human, an American, stepped on the Moon (in picture) in July 1969 Courtesy: NASA ment. In 1962, he formed the Indian National Commiee for Space Research, INCOSPAR, with the support of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. INCOSPAR was managed by the Physical Research Laboratory, which was a grant-in-aid institution of the Depart- ment of Atomic Energy. Eventually INCOSPAR activities migrated to the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, a project of PRL. Under INCOSPAR and later ISRO, several projects were launched like sounding rockets for Space Sciences, Experimental Satellite Communications Earth Station for training in Earth station operations, Satellite Instruc- tional Television Experiment, etc. In an address to the first UN Confer- ence on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, UNISPACE, held in 1969, Vikram Sarabhai also recognized the importance of Remote Sensing for development, and these activities began under ISRO. While the Indian Space Program is quite different from the US Space Program, and ISRO is quite different from NASA, it is necessary to learn from the US experience and those of other countries, to steer com- mercialization of Space activities in a "co-trav- eler" mode. It is also necessary to understand where ISRO stands today in terms of working with co-travelers. ISRO, it should be noted, is the primary research and development arm of the Department of Space, DOS. e key term is research and development. R&D – an instrument of societal development In 1971, Dr. Sarabhai, the architect of India's nascent Space program, passed away, leaving an inchoate ISRO to Prof. Satish Dhawan, who took over in 1972 and gave it a direction and defined specific goals. Prof. Dhawan realized that ISRO needed to co-travel with other Indian entities in order to be relevant. Under his leadership, ISRO forged ahead with launchers, primarily PSLV, INSAT communications satellites and IRS Remote Sensing satellites. While the launchers would ultimately serve to launch Indian satellites, the satellites themselves would have to serve India meaningfully in terms of communications, broadcasting, meteorology and natural resources management. anks to his far-sightedness, the Indian Space Program formed very useful relation- ships for both upstream and downstream activ- ities. e Indian industry, both heavy industries and MSMEs, were roped in to supply the essential components of launch vehicles and www.geospatialworld.net | May-June 2020 19

• Cover