10 May 2004 02:53
US, Europe make beeline to partner India in moon mission
Bangalore, May 10 (PTI) India has received proposals from space powers, including US and Europe, to be its partner in
its proposed moon mission (Chandrayaan-I), a top Indian Space Research Organisation official said on Monday. ISRO
Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a function here that the proposals had come from US, Europe
and Canada. "Israel has also sent a proposal", he added. "We have 20 proposals at hand now. At the best
we can take only two. A scientific committee has been appointed which is going to review and short-list the
proposals", Nair said. He said the two foreign agencies selected would basically carry out auxillary experiments
during the mission, slated for 2007. "We have started the metal cutting", Nair said on the preparations for
the mission, which is estimated to cost Rs 3.5 billion. ISRO's present plans are to have an unmanned moon mission,
and Nair categorically said there is no proposal at the moment to have a manned one. "The debate (whether to have a
manned moon mission or not) has been initiated in various technical fora. Let it go through a process of review",
he said. Speaking on the upcoming launches, Nair said Edusat, a spacecraft dedicated for education purposes, was slated
to be launched on board a Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in early August. Also scheduled for launch
this year is a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which would carry one of the Cartosats. The Russian cryogenic
engine would be used for the coming GSLV launch, he said in response to a question. The indigenous cryogenic engine was
fully qualified and was currently in the stage of development, Nair said. ISRO was currently building fourth generation
sattelite and first of the INSAT-4 series -- INSAT-4A -- was planned to be launched by the end of the year and the
second one -- INSAT-4B -- in the second half of next year, he said. INSAT-4 series would carry more KU band transponders
than the INSAT-3 series and also C-band. "Transponder requirements have gone up. We are trying to put 36
transponders (in each of INSAT-4 series spacecraft)". Nair rejected criticism of the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India which maintained that ISRO's transponder costs were high and the space agency was taking advantage of
being a monopoly in the sphere. "Our transponder costs are very, very competitive compared with any in the world.
It's most competitive", the ISRO Chairman said. (THROUGH ASIA PULSE)
[Press Trust of India] |
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