Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan on Saturday said the organisation was developing “green propulsion” technology, believed to be less harmful to the environment, for its human spaceflight missions.
Delivering the convocation address, virtually, at the 16th annual convocation of the SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), he said, “In future, all propulsion stages may adopt green propulsion.”
ISRO recently said the country’s first human spaceflight mission, ‘Gaganyaan’, was experiencing delays due to COVID-19. Mr. Sivan pointed to the technology transfer done by ISRO of its space-grade lithium ion batteries to industry, which he said would help in mass adoption for electric vehicles without being dependent on foreign technology.
Highlighting that the space sector reforms, rolled out by the Central government, would enable greater participation from non-governmental agencies in space activities, he said the next PSLV launch of ISRO would have satellites from start-ups.
Nano-satellite
Recollecting the nano-satellite, ‘SRMSAT’, launched by SRMIST, in collaboration with ISRO, he invited the former for more collaborations in future.
SRMIST founder-chancellor T.R. Paarivendhar, pro-chancellors Ravi Pachamoothoo and P. Sathyanarayanan participated. The annual report was presented by Vice-Chancellor Sandeep Sancheti.
A total of 17,204 students, including 129 Ph.D. scholars, received their degrees.
