ISRO

Human being is a very curious animal. It is the curiosity that has led him from the depths of oceans to the unknown worlds in space. But now in this modern globalized world, nations launch space missions not only to fulfill human curiosity  but to show their superiority and reap its economic and scientific benefits also. I admire Vikram Sarabhai for his vision. After the independence he put forth a space policy for nation, people questioned his idea as why does a poor nation like India needs to spend huge amounts on space, when people in our country are dying of hunger. But Mr. Sarabhai remained persistent and told people that India is not going into any space race, but the advancement will help people in long term.

India is reaping benefits from his vision now. Today, we are not dependent on some other country to launch our satellites into space. Even world acknowledged India's prowess after Chandrayaan. But we need to work hard as we have conquered just a peak, the mountain is still there. It really hurts me to see that corruption has not left Isro, India's one of the most prestigious institution. The ongoing war between the former and current chief of Isro will surely affect its future.

One of the main reasons why Russia lost to US in space war was lack of adequate rocket which could take payload to moon and return. Werner Von Braun's Saturn 5 rocket is till time the largest rocket ever made. China is playing superb by investing in rockets, its long march family is developing fast and was responsible for their manned missions.

Just a few days ago, I read in news that govt. has approved ISRO's mars mission. This mission is nothing but a show mission. The payload will be only 25 kg. Moreover, the mission is not much complex. Rather than spending so much amount, India should now focus building capabilities by improving its rockets. We need GSLV mark III as soon as possible. It will allow us to launch heavier satellites, moon missions like Chandraayaan 2 and manned missions in space. The only reason Chandrayaan 2 is delayed is due to lack of such a heavy launch capability. So, rather than be in a race to send first thing to Mars, India should focus on basics first and invest in building heavy rockets. I have devised a four step approach for Isro that can help it to be a  world leader in space :

 ~ Change the organisation structure of Isro, make different subsidiaries based on their roles like rockets, satellite, space missions, R&D etc. These subsidiaries should be allocated budget on their priorities.

~ Invest higher amounts in Research and development so that we can find more innovative and creative solutions for our problems.

~ Improve the work culture of Isro so that more and more better people join it. Improve the life of people in Isro.

~ Increase the level of space education in India. If we want to increase the level of we need some world class educational institutes  IIST is a good step in this direction but we need to increase the quality and quantity of courses. IIST should increase MOU's with top aerospace institutions across the world.

Moreover, I believe the time has come for Isro to go into a new phase with new ambitious objectives and a new momentum. Nothing tells more to the world at a first glance than your logo. The current logo of Isro was adopted in 2002. Few weeks ago, I saw the logo of CNSA - China National Space Academy and i was really amazed by the detail and the logic in it. I suppose the ISRO has lot to learn from it, not just in terms of their creativity, but also their zeal to excel and hard work.