ISRO to move operational activities to NSIL, to focus on R&D, says its Chairman

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would move its operational activities to its marketing arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and focus on research and development in the area of advanced space technologies in the coming years, its Chairman S Somanath said on Monday.

He said the ISRO has over the years been focusing more on delivering applications for the government and the public; having created systems, and building, launching and operating satellites, providing communication, earth observation and navigation services.

Following the government directives, all those operational activities would now move to NSIL, also a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Space (DoS), Somanath said in his address to a function marking the launch of platinum jubilee year celebrations of the Raman Research Institute (RRI) here.

“ISRO will focus more and more on research and development for advanced technologies in this domain (space),” he said. “This is going to happen in the coming years.” This means the “connection” between the ISRO and scientific organisations in the country need to be scaled up to create greater research and development activities in space technology, Somanath, also DoS Secretary, said.

He reiterated that the changes in ISRO, following reforms in the space sector initiated by the government, is really going to transform the way the national space agency works with scientific institutions in the country in the field of research and collaboration. RRI Director Prof. Tarun Souradeep said RRI, a premier institution founded by Nobel Laureate Sir C V Raman in 1948, is entering into 75th year of promoting research in frontier areas of Physics under contemporary research themes.