Enthused by India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said scientists of the space agency have achieved this historic success by getting one-fifth of the salaries of scientists in the developed world.
According to him, the low pay for ISRO scientists is one of the reasons why they can find low-cost solutions for space exploration.
Talking about the Indian space agency’s history of space exploration at very low cost, Nair told PTI, “The salaries paid to scientists, technicians and other employees in ISRO are comparable to those paid globally. Barely a fifth. So it gives an advantage.” Expenses.
He said that none of the ISRO scientists are millionaires and they always lead very simple and modest lives.
“They are not really worried about money, but passionate and dedicated towards their mission. That’s how we scaled new heights,” Nair said here.
He said ISRO scientists can achieve this through careful planning and a long-term approach.
“We tried to build one on top of the other. What we learned in the past, we used for later missions. In fact, what we developed almost 30 years ago for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is the same engine that GSLV is also being used,” Nair said.
He said that India uses indigenous technology for its space missions and this has helped them bring down the cost significantly. He said that the cost of India’s space mission is 50 to 60 percent less than the space missions of other countries.
Nair said the success of Chandrayaan-3 is the first step to start India’s planetary exploration.
“We’ve really broken the ice and got off to a good start,” he said.
The former ISRO chief said the country already has several commercial contracts with Europe and the US and now with the success of Chandrayaan-3 it will increase.
“Certainly the global people will acknowledge our technical capability and the quality of our launch systems and spacecraft etc. International cooperation has been on the agenda of the Indian space program and will be strengthened in the days to come,” he added.
According to ISRO, the total cost of Chandrayaan-3 is only Rs 615 crore, which is almost equal to the production budget of a Bollywood film in the country.
In a major leap for its space programme, India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon’s south pole at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, making the country join an exclusive club of four and the first to land on the uncharted surface .
India has mastered the technique of soft-landing on the moon, less than a week after creating history with this touchdown on the moon after a flawless journey of 41 days and a Russian lander crashing on its way to the Moon’s south pole It has become the fourth country to do so. followed by the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.