Sriharikota: ISRO is targeting six more launches this financial year, said ISRO Chief V Narayanan after the successful launch of the GSLV-F17/EOS-05 mission on Friday.
"This financial year, in the direction of the Prime Minister, we are targeting six more launches,” Narayanan told ANI.
He said the successful mission was significant for the country as the EOS-05 satellite would be placed in geosynchronous orbit. The satellite is intended to support continuous monitoring of India and nearby areas for Earth observation.
“This mission is a very important mission for our country because, for the first time, we are going to place an Earth observation satellite in the geosynchronous orbit, which is essentially required for continuously monitoring India and its nearby places for Earth observation," he added.
Narayanan also spoke about the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, describing it as a technology-intensive mission. He said the launch vehicle being prepared for the mission is human-rated and that ISRO is continuing work to get the programme ready.
“Gaganyaan is a technology-intensive mission. The vehicle is human-rated. We are getting ready for this mission. A lot of development work we have completed, including safety system development,” he said.
The ISRO chief said work on Gaganyaan had progressed substantially, including the development of safety systems. He added that preparations for the human spaceflight mission were continuing.
Narayanan also provided an update on the upcoming launch pad at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu. He said the launch pad there is expected to be ready by March next year and that work is progressing according to the targeted plan.
“The launch pad at Kulasekarapattinam will be ready by March next year. Everything is going as per the targeted plan,” he said.
Highlighting the broader growth of India’s space sector, Narayanan said the focus should not be limited to the growth of ISRO but should also include the expansion of the country’s overall space ecosystem.
“What is required is not just ISRO’s growth but the growth of the space ecosystem in our country,” he said.
He noted that around 440 startup companies are currently working in the space sector, contributing to industry growth and creating employment opportunities.
His remarks came after ISRO successfully deployed the EOS-05 Earth observation satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Friday.
The launch took place from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR. The GSLV-F17 rocket, the 19th flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), carried EOS-05 towards a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO).