Former ISRO Chief and Space Commission member A.S. Kiran Kumar on Sunday asked youth to work hard to make India a space capable nation and enable the country to take humans to moon by 2040.
Speaking on the topic “Igniting the future: ISRO’s legacy and beyond”, at the Ramakrishna Mutt in Mangaluru on Sunday, Mr. Kumar said the nation, which is moving towards becoming world’s largest economy, cannot ignore space economy. The space economy is a trillion dollar economy. Space tourism and space adventure provided tremendous opportunity.
Mr. Kumar said, “Unless our capability in space mission is demonstrated other nations will not take note of India. Youngsters should become leaders and showcase our capability in space science.“
Works are on towards having country’s own space station by 2035. “By 2040 we have to take humans to moon and bring them back,” the former ISRO chief said. The government is allowing more people to work in space science. Private entities and consortium of firms are being allowed to launch their satellites.
Since the start of the space programme for non-military purpose in October 1957, ISRO has leapfrogged in space technology to indigenously develop different launch pads and launch a number of satellites, he said.
