Bangalore: ISRO to launch 58 missions in 5 years.

Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up to launch 58 missions in the next five years, informed ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan. In a press conference held here on Monday to discuss ISRO’s future plans, Radhakrishnan said two of the future missions would be commercial. “India’s first 50 space missions were achieved in 27 years and the next 50 in 10 years -- between 2002 and 2012. Our aim now is to undertake 58 missions in five years,” he said.

Radhakrishnan said the budget for the current year was Rs 6,700 crore, 36 per cent of which would be allocated for launch vehicles, 55 per cent for communication, remote sensing and navigation satellites and 9 per cent for science missions like Astrosat, Mars Orbiter and Aditya. He said the missions would include PSLV C20 with Saral satellite, which would be assembled in 20 days at Sri Harikota with the tentative launch date fixed for December 12. GSAT 7 and INSAT 3D, which were communications and meteorology satellites, were almost complete, he added. He said that the launch of Indian IRNSS satellite was planned in early July, 2013, on the PSLV C22.

Referring to the developmental delays in the GSLV D5 indigenous cryogenic engine, Radhakrishnan said ISRO was learning from previous errors and strengthening the fuel booster turbo pump. “There are two more tests with the cryo stage, which will be completed by November. We will have a flight test in January-February, 2013,” he added.

The next five years would also see huge capacity addition in terms of transponders to meet the demand of 156 transponders, mostly from DTH companies. “ISRO will also create a National Database for Emergency Management and focus on other remote sensing databases in order to assist the government in planning,” Radhakrishnan added.