“We are not looking at it as
a record or anything. We are just trying to maximise our capability with each
launch and trying to utilise that launch for the ability it has got and
get the maximum in return,” ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told reporters
here.
Of the 103 satellites that
ISRO’s workhorse PSLV-C37 is expected to carry, 100 are foreign.
“They are all actually a
constellation, they are getting into a constellation of satellites providing
observation of earth,” Kumar said in response to a query on the sidelines of
Karnataka ICT Summit 2017.
The three Indian satellites
are Cartosat-2 series, weighing 730 kg as primary payload, INS-IA and
INS-1B, weighing 30 kg.
An official from the space
agency said it was earlier planned to launch 83 satellites in the last
week of January, of which 80 were foreign, but with the addition of 20
more foreign satellites the launch was delayed by a week and would now take
place in the first week of February.
Kumar also said ISRO was
working on having more frequent launches and make use of each launch
or maximise the capability of the launch vehicle itself.
“The next one is going to
carry a number of satellites from various companies along with our own
Cartosat-2 series satellite and immediately following that we have GSLV Mark
III and Mark II…. In the first three months that’s what we
are targeting, but beyond that we are trying to work for almost one launch
a month,” he said.
“The prime driver for all of
this is to increase the capacity. Though we have the number of satellites
in operation, we require many more for providing the necessary services
that is needed,” he added.
After the success of the
Mars mission, ISRO, which is currently conducting experiments for its second
moon mission said another mission to Mars, Venus and Jupiter are on the
horizon and studies are underway.
“As we are progressing, we need to look at
long-term. So what we are looking beyond Chandrayan-2, for which we are already
working on an approved programme,” Kumar said.
“Beyond that, Mars second
mission and Venus mission are all on the horizon, we have to go through
the various studies and then formulate, get the approval and move. Right
now, they are all in the study phase,” he added.
ISRO is conducting tests for hazard avoidance for Chandrayaan-2 as it lands at its facility in Challakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka, where simulated lunar craters have been created to evaluate the performance of the system.
The ISRO Chairman and French
Space agency (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall in the presence of
visiting French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault had on
Monday signed a partnership agreement in satellite launch technology.
To a question on the
agreement, Kumar said “Currently we are working with them on Oceansat-3…
And then we are working for a future payload, on an infrared imaging
sensor.”
“We are also looking at
possibilities of working with them in various areas of future developments
of satellites, launch vehicles,” he added.
ISRO in the past had worked
with CNES on sounding rockets, SARAL satellites programme and had also
launched satellites for them.
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