Narayanan: ISRO Designing 40-Storey Launcher For 75 Tonne Payloads

ISRO Chairman V Narayanan announced that the space agency has been working on a 40-storey high rocket to place a 75,000 kg payload in low Earth orbit.

According to PTI, while delivering the convocation address of Osmania University on Tuesday, Narayanan said this year, the space agency has lined up with projects such as the NAVIC (Navigation with India Constellation system) satellite and the N1 rocket, besides placing a 6,500 kg communication satellite of the USA into orbit using Indian rockets.

He said by 2035, a 52-tonne mass space station is going to be built, even as ISRO is working on the Venus Orbiter mission.

"Right now, we are working on a next-generation launcher. You know, what is the capacity of the rocket? The first launcher, (Dr APJ) Abdul Kalam ji, which he built, was a 17-tonne lift-off mass, capable of placing 35 kg in low earth orbit. Today, we are conceiving a rocket to place 75,000 kg in low Earth orbit. The rocket is of a 40-storey building height," he said.

He added that, among other things, ISRO has scheduled the launch of the Technology Demonstration Satellite (TDS) and GSAT-7R, an Indian military communication satellite created especially for the Indian Navy to replace the current GSAT-7 (Rukmini) satellite, this year.

According to Narayanan, India currently has 55 satellites in orbit, and in the next three to four years, that number will triple.

"The original project was scheduled for June 11," he stated, recounting the circumstances leading up to astronaut Subhashnu Shukla's successful flight to and return from the International Space Station. However, it was rescheduled for June 25, a day before a crew under his leadership discovered a rocket leak.

"And with that, if the rocket had taken off, it would have been a catastrophic failure. Based on the insistence of Indians, the Indian education system, and the training of ISRO, the rocket was corrected. Today we have accomplished a safe mission, not only Subashanhu Shukla, but along with him three more international astronauts," he said as per PTI reports.

Narayanan explained the domestic space voyage and stated that India is now able to compete with other advanced space-faring countries. He asserts that India has launched more than 4,000 rockets to date.

With the help of other nations, India launched its first satellite, Aryabhatta, in 1975. Since then, up to 133 different kinds of satellites have been launched, including the 6,000-kilogram GSAT-11 satellite that is currently in orbit, he said.

India is the only nation to date to complete the Mars orbiter mission on its first try, whereas none of the developed nations were able to do so. It also boasts the best camera on the moon, with a resolution of 32 centimetres.

"ISRO is the first organisation and India is the first country which successfully placed 104 satellites using a single rocket in the first attempt. And we made history. And today, we have built the Aditya L1 satellite to study the sun," Narayanan said.

It has brought 20 terabits of data in addition to analysing the sun. He stated that India is one of just four nations with the capacity to construct a satellite for solar research.

At the convocation, Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma awarded Narayanan the honorary Doctor of Science degree in recognition of his significant contributions to India's space program.

Later, Narayanan told reporters on the event's sidelines that Shubhanshu Shukla had returned safely (after spending 20 days in space).

His (Shubhanshu's) experience is going to feed India's Gaganyaan programme, he said.

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that India needs to build a pool of 40-50 astronauts ready to lead future space missions, Narayanan said, "In the future it will happen. Whatever the prime minister has said, it will happen".