Chandrayaan-3 has proved India’s capability for cost-effective space missions, Union Minister of State for Space Dr Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.
Speaking at an interactive meet of intellectuals, prominent citizens and media persons in Indore, he said that India’s space missions are designed to be cost effective.
The minister further elaborated saying: “The Russian moon mission, that was unsuccessful, cost Rs 16,000 crore, and our (Chandrayaan-3) mission cost just around Rs 600 crore. Consider, Hollywood films based on Moon & Space Missions cost over Rs 600 crore.”
India, he said, has learnt to compensate for cost through its skills. ”Questions will arise, how? We made use of gravitational forces, the spacecraft made about 20 orbits of the earth, each rising in parabola, until it escaped and was captured in the Moon’s gravity and it made 70-80 revolutions of the moon before landing at the designated spot,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that in order to involve the private sector in R&D efforts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out with the “Anusandhan National Research Foundation” Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha in the last session of Parliament, with a budget of Rs 50,000 crore over five years.
“When it is implemented fully, it will be a game-changer. We are planning a unique Public Private Partnership (PPP) entity for which Rs 36,000 crore of the research funding is to come from the private sector, mostly industry whereas the government will put Rs 14,000 crore,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India launched a unique initiative which even the US and other countries would envy. “Two years ago, a provision was made that companies can earmark 10 per cent of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) budget on R&D, earlier this was not so,” he said.
Calling for collective synergy, he said: ”We have to get rid of this mutual scepticism between the public and private sector. We can never emerge successful in the geopolitical race by working in silos.”The Minister said: “The Russian moon mission, that was unsuccessful, cost Rs 16,000 crore, and our (Chandrayaan-3) mission cost just around Rs 600 crore. Consider, Hollywood films based on Moon & Space Missions cost over Rs 600 crore.”