ISRO chief Dr Somanath praises Elon Musk's interplanetary habitation plans

Thiruvananthapuram: ISRO chairman Dr S Somanath said on Friday that he appreciated US billionaire Elon Musk's vision of interplanetary habitation in future, while speaking at the country’s flagship startup festival, Huddle Global 2024, organised by Kerala Startup Mission in Kovalam.

Dr Somanath opined that explorations in the field of space science are part of human nature." We started out from one place and spread to different continents. So, it has been human nature to travel and explore from the very beginning," the space scientist said while answering a question on Musk's revolutionary plans, which are hotly debated worldwide.

Dr Somanath's interaction with the audience followed a talk on “ISRO’s vision and the rise of India’s space Tech companies”. He said the private sector and startups have a key role to play as India looks to boost its space activities and grab a larger share of the global market.

With India expanding its activities in space to interplanetary exploration, future projects like India's human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan and the Indian Space Station will also be collaborative efforts between ISRO and private-sector, the ISRO head said.

There is immense potential for private sector involvement in designing and launching small satellites, geospatial solutions, communication systems, orbital transfer vehicles, and more, he added.

"Despite being an acknowledged space power, India's share of global business is just two per cent at 386 billion dollars. India plans to raise it to $500 billion by 2030 and hit 1.5 trillion dollars by 2047,” Dr Somanath said.

Pointing out the scope of business activities for the private sector, he said India has just 15 operational space satellites, which is a relatively small number. Considering the nation's expertise in space technology and the growing number of satellite manufacturing companies, India has the potential to have at least 500 satellites in space, he added.

While there was only one space-related startup in 2014, this number has grown to over 250 by 2024. In 2023 alone, space startups attracted investments worth Rs1,000 crore. Over 450 MSMEs and more than 50 large companies are now actively contributing to the space sector.

India has made significant strides in the space domain, having launched 431 foreign satellites to date, Somanath noted. ISRO collaborates with 61 countries on various projects.

Current joint missions include NISAR with NASA, TRISHNA with CNES (France), the G20 Satellite, and the Lunar Polar Exploration mission with JAXA (Japan).