News Analysis India

Tag: K Sivan

  • Gaganyaan: ISRO’s thrust area for international cooperation

    Express News Service

    BENGALURU: The Gaganyaan programme is a stepping stone for establishing sustained human presence in outer space. The Human Space Flight programme Ganayaan announced in 2018 is a major thrust area of ISRO’s international cooperation, said ISRO Chairman K Sivan, talking about human space flight being a good candidate for international cooperation.

    This comes at a time when several countries are collaborating on the Artemis mission (crewed Moon landing mission) but there is no public announcement by the Indian space agency to team up with USA’s programme. Even as Sivan believed the potential of the moon to serve as an observatory to study the signatures of global warming on earth.

    He was talking at the crossover session of Sydney Dialogues at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2021, on Friday.

    Sivan meanwhile expressed confidence in strengthening international collaborations with various other countries through Gaganyaan itself.

    He iterated that with the Gaganyaan mission, India is cooperating with CNES, France on space medicine, Canada and Romania on wind tunnel testing, Australia and European Space Agency on ground station support.

    Astronaut candidates have completed the Russian leg of their training at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia.

    “I am sure that the present cooperation will continue and will lead to increased engagement with international partners in the times to come,” Sivan said.

    Talking about existing international collaborations by Japan, Hiroshi Yamakawa, President, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), recalled the Hayabusa2, a sample-return mission with Australia where samples were recovered from from asteroid Ryugu back to earth in 2020, “It was a great achievement.”

    With India he iterated the plans for a joint mission to the moon — lunar polar exploration mission — that will provide a rover and India will provide a lander.

    Meanwhile, Japan’s role in the ISS and Artemis programme will be manifold. “We are going to collaborate with the US and many countries in the near future, and will provide habitation function to the gateway which is a new manned space station around the moon.”

    He said JAXA will also provide cargo transportation capability using space cargo ship and will collaborate with the USA in the near future towards sustainable exploration on the surface of the moon.

  • Space ecosystem rife for private players: ISRO chief K Sivan

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Noting that the space ecosystem was rife with opportunities for private players, ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Thursday said operational space activities of the organisation will be open for the private industry to take up and commercially benefit from it.

    At the same time, for sustaining the existing capabilities of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the New Space India Limited will play an enhanced role in meeting user-driven demands, he said, addressing the Times Now Summit 2021.

    “Through predictable policy, and legal framework, the operational space activities of ISRO will be open for private industry to take up and commercially benefit from it. Thus, the Indian space roadmap will be a mix of governmental, non-governmental space engines which complement each other, thereby boosting the economic growth of the country,” Sivan said.

    He said ISRO will continue and enhance focus on the development of innovative space technology and applications to expand the footprints of the country in space.

    “Thus, a comprehensive decadal plan is being formulated to boost the R&D capabilities of the country along with building the technology gap. The requirement of space is also committed to playing a greater role in these post-space sectors in promoting and building the private sectors to thrive in the country,” Sivan said.

    On the effects of COVID-19, the ISRO chief said the pandemic affected the space agency’s plans and also delayed various activities but added that the coronavirus has also given it an opportunity to work in an easier and cost-effective way.

    “If one looks at the opportunity in the future of space, the global space economy has emerged stronger and proven its resilience in the fluctuating global economy. Space is thereby well-positioned for growth in growing investment, market development, and employment opportunities across multiple sectors,” he said.

    Calling these the turning points for setting up multiple fertile ecosystems for space industries across the world to create new job opportunities, encourage innovations and also contribute to the global space economy, Sivan said the government has recognised the need to start developing a local space-based economy considering India’s strength in space, keeping in mind growing demand and opportunities in space-based applications.

    “The revision of FDI policies will definitely open up huge avenues for powering space companies to invest in India. The policy enables foreign companies to tie up with Indian companies and help in creating a fertile ecosystem for the space industry and industries with new opportunities,” he said.

    He said that ISRO has a space-sighted mission, and with the revised mandate of the government, the private sector can complement it in space exploration as well.

    “It will be made possible as industries will have opportunities to develop enabling technologies for exploration and it being a new area, the industries can really work well here. System requirements and specifications will be listed by ISRO and they will realised by the industries,” he said.

    Sivan also spoke about how ISRO will offer its facilities for interface testing along with the space qualification by system run.

    “This framework will also be useful for the development of novel technologies including AI, machine learning, debris management, etc,” he added.

    On India’s first manned-space mission, Gaganyaan, Sivan said it is one of the most fascinating areas of ISRO and it shall put India in the club of nations with acumen space freight ability.

    In fact, this is also the flagship programme that has been announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the organisation is working hard in this regard, he added.

  • Enormous scope for tie-up between foreign and Indian companies in space sector: ISRO chief K Sivan

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The reforms initiated by the government in the space sector and the liberalisation of FDI norms will ensure a sustained engagement between Indian and overseas companies which will greatly benefit both, ISRO chairman K Sivan said on Monday.

    After initiating reforms in the space sector, the Department of Space has received 40 applications, mostly from start-ups, for utilising ISRO’s facilities and each proposal is being looked into.

    The DoS is assessing the requirements of each of the applications, he said. “Our space FDI policy is getting revised and this will open up huge avenues of opportunities for foreign space companies to invest in India. This will ensure a sustained engagement between Indian and overseas companies which will greatly benefit both,” Sivan said.

    He was speaking at the International Space Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Sivan, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said that there is an enormous scope for foreign companies to tie up with Indian companies in the space sector. “This is something we have to take up very very strongly. We have seen a lot of interest (in the Indian space sector) from the foreign companies,” he stressed.

    He said ISRO will be concentrating more on research and development and strive to overcome the challenges and the technological gap in a timely and more responsive manner in the changing scenario. ISRO facilities’ expertise will be leveraged so that opportunities will be there for private industry to generate more cash flow and investment.

    Last week, the DoS has signed a framework MoU with Skyroot Aerospace Pvt Ltd. that will enable the company to undertake multiple tests and access facilities at various ISRO centers and avail technical expertise of ISRO for testing and qualifying their space launch vehicle systems and subsystems.

    Sivan said many such MoUs with other start-ups will be signed soon. In a major reform in India’s space arena announced by the government last year, the private sector was allowed to carry out space activities like building of rockets, satellites and providing launch services.

    The government also formed the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-Space) under the Department of Space as a separate vertical for taking independent decisions with respect to permitting and regulating space activities of the private sector.

    Sivan said In-Space will act as a link between ISRO and the private sector industry assessing how to best utilise India’s space resources and increase the space-based activities. “The department sees start-ups as new-age industry partners and the potential future partners who can contribute to space economy and we will be able to enable them to become competitive with other big global players,” he said.

    R Umamaheshwaran, Scientific Secretary, ISRO and incharge (IN-Space Activities), said the DoS is now in the process of finalising policies related to SATCOM (Satellite Communications) and remote sensing with a view to enable the Indian industry to penetrate more into the space applications demand.

    The DoS has also released draft policies for space transportation, satellite navigation, human space technology ransfer, all of which shall incorporate the public feedback, go through the various stages of internal reviews before being formally approved.

    The Space Activities Bill is going through various departmental reviews, inter-ministerial consultations before being finally tabled in Parliament, Umamaheshwaran added.

  • Space industry advocacy group IN-SPACe presents space roadmap to ISRO Chariman Sivan

    Express News Service

    BENGALURU: Chairman ISRO K Sivan on Wednesday, interacted with delegates from Industry, Academia and Start-ups, who have proposed their ideas to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre [IN-SPACe] .

    As many as 25 non-government and private entities [NGPEs] including L&T, Bharti Airtel, Pixel, Agnikul, Skyroot, Alpha Designs briefed Sivan about their activities and sought suggestions for accomplishment of the same.

    Sivan lauded the formation of Indian Space Association [ISpA], which is an exclusive space industry advocacy group, that comprises of stakeholders of the Indian space ecosystem. These will form a collective voice of what these stakeholders expect from InSPACe.

    He encouraged start-ups and industry players to join ISpA, towards enhancing the evolving landscape of space activities in the country.

    J D Patil is the Chairman (Designate) of ISpA. He along with Lt Gen A K Bhatt (Retd.), presented the roadmap of the association and expressed how it would benefit the space industry as a whole, in-line with the vision of the Honourable Prime Minister for the country’s overall development .

    Participants were givn a demonstration of the proposed website for IN-SPACe.

    ‘Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for using Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter data’

    The Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday, sought scientific proposals through its Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to analyse and use data from Chandrayaan 2 orbiter which is at present in a 100 km x 100 km circular polar orbit around the Moon. The orbiter carries eight experiments for studies ranging from surface geology and composition to exospheric measurements.

    The AO is open to researchers from recognized academic institutions, Universities, Colleges, Planetaria and government organizations of India.

    The project is expected to be completed in three years.

    As per the space organisation, On December 24, 2020 Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter payloads data were released to public for scientific analysis. Subsequently in July, 2021 next sets of data were released from payloads. A few science results by payload science teams were already published in International peer reviewed journals.

    The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter payloads which are said to be generating high quality data, have been made available in public domain https://pradan.issdc.gov.in for scientific analysis. More data sets will be added to this as acquired by various payloads, said the organisation.

     

  • First uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan programme not possible in December: ISRO

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: The launch of the first uncrewed mission planned in December, as part of the human spaceflight programme ‘Gaganyaan’, will be delayed due to the COVID-19-induced disruption in delivery of hardware elements for the ambitious venture, ISRO confirmed on Monday.

    “Definitely it will not be possible in December. It’s delayed”, Chairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), K Sivan, told PTI here.

    “It (uncrewed mission) will shift to next year”.

    According to sources in the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency, under the Department of Space, delivery of hardware by the industry was hit due to the lockdown imposed in several States to contain the pandemic in recent months.

    As part of the mandate of Gaganyaan, two uncrewed flights are planned to test the end-to-end capacity for the manned mission.

    “Design, analysis and documentation are done by ISRO while hardware for Gaganyaan is fabricated and supplied by hundreds of industries across the country,” the sources said.

    The objective of Gaganyaan is to carry a crew of three to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), perform a set of predefined activities in space, and return them safely to a predefined destination on earth.

    Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Space, Jitendra Singh said in February this year that the first unmanned mission is planned in December 2021 and the second unmanned one in 2022-23, followed by the human spaceflight demonstration.

    Four Indian astronaut-candidates (Test Pilots of Indian Air Force) have already undergone generic space flight training in Russia as part of the Gaganyaan programme.

    ISRO’s heavy-lift launcher GSLV Mk III has been identified for the mission.

    Formal announcement of the Gaganyaan programme was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address on August 15, 2018.

    The initial target was to launch the human spaceflight before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence on August 15, 2022.

    Meanwhile, the four Indian astronaut-candidates are getting ready to kick-start the Indian leg of the mission- specific training that focuses on physical, mental, psychological and technological aspects.

    An expert team has defined the training curriculum.

    “Mostly, it will start next month”, Sivan said.

    “The training will happen at different locations. Academic training, aircraft trials, Navy trials, survival trials, simulation trials the training is repeated, updated till they fly.”

    The crew management activities are being taken care of by Indian Air Force.

    ISRO has signed MoU with seven labs of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for design and development of human centric products.

    It has signed a similar agreement with academic institutes for development of Microgravity payloads.

    The human-centric products include space food and potable water, crew health monitoring system, emergency survival kit, and crew medical kit.

    ISRO is also taking the help of French, Russian and US space agencies in “some of the crucial activities and supply of components”, sources said.

    Sivan said engines are getting tested and being qualified as part of human rating of the launch vehicle.

  • ISRO working towards using green propellant for future launches: K Sivan

    He said India is in talks with Australia to have a ground station at the Coco Islands for the Gaganyaan mission.

  • ISRO top brass pushed Sivan junior’s recruitment: Plaint

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has registered a complaint against Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space (DoS), Dr K Sivan, over allegations of irregularities in recruiting his son in ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram, by bypassing norms.

    The complaint — “171623/2021/vigilance-6”, dated January 25, 2021 — names LPSC Director Dr V Narayanan, and alleges that the recruitment of Dr Sivan’s son Sidharth S was not just a matter of conflict of interest, but a case of “favouritism and conspiracy to benefit the Secretary DoS and Chairman ISRO (Sivan) and his son”.

    Dr Narayanan, the complaint stated, was in a hurry to fill the post as Dr Sivan was then supposed to retire on January 14 (his tenure has been extended) and Dr Narayanan was anticipating to be transferred to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

    Sidharth’s allegedly hurried recruitment was to favour ISRO chief before the anticipated transfer of Dr Narayanan, a rocket propulsion expert who joined ISRO in 1984 and has been LPSC director since January 2018. The complaint states that to hurry up the recruitment, Sidharth’s placement was not taken up in the general recruitment through ISRO’s Central Recruitment Board, which conducts screening, written test and interview. Instead, only interview was held.

    All processes followed in  recruitment: Sivan’s office

    The Department of Space, ISRO and LPSC had issued an advertisement (no. LPSC/01/2020) for post number 738 of Scientist Engineer ‘SC’ [Level 10 (pay matrix: Rs 56,100 – Rs 1,77,500)] at LPSC units located at Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru. Candidates seeking to apply for the selection were asked to visit the website www.lpsc.gov.in to fill up the online application form. The recruitment portal was made available from October 27, 2020, to November 9, 2020. The advertisement mentioned the required qualification as “BE/BTech or equivalent in Electronics & Communication Engineering + ME/MTech or equivalent in VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integration) & Embedded Systems”.

    However, the complaint alleged that there is no requirement of MTech in VLSI in LPSC and that no one has been recruited so far in LPSC with this qualification for Scientist Engineer ‘SC’ level. It charged that the qualification mentioned in the advertisement “perfectly matched” that of Sidharth, who is an MTech. “This gives rise to the apprehension that the advertisement was tailor-made for the particular candidate,” it stated.

    In the merit list of three candidates put out by LPSC, Sidharth is ranked second, and the list stands valid till January 13, 2022.Dr Sivan refused to directly comment on the issue, but his office in Bengaluru, while acknowledging that a complaint had been filed, told TNIE that all due processes had been followed in Sidharth’s recruitment, and nothing had been compromised.

    “Respective (ISRO) centres conduct interviews. There are three ways of recruiting. One is through ISRO’s Central Recruitment Board, which is for the general streams. The second is through campus recruitment. The third includes respective ISRO centres looking for candidates with specialisation.

    Being an MTech, Sidharth’s application was screened by an appropriate committee, after which he attended the interview. All due processes have been followed,” the ISRO Chairman’s office said. A source close to Dr Sivan also said that Sidharth had applied to a few companies and organisations and ISRO was just one of them. Dr Narayanan, however, did not respond to repeated calls by this paper.Meanwhile, the complaint registered by the CVC is “under process”.