Isro chief says demand for services multiplying

Central and state government departments are increasingly turning to the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for technologies and solutions, says the latter's head.

Around 60 central government departments and all states work with us to improve planning, monitoring and other activities through the 34 satellites of various functions the country has in space, said Isro chief A S Kiran Kumar.

"They are realising that space technology and space-based tools have a very significant role in delivering of good and efficient governance. We are seeing a spurt of activities at the government level, demanding greater and greater services to be provided by Isro," he said while inaugurating Space Expo 2016 here on Wednesday.

From working with 15-odd central government departments and a few states for the first three decades, the sudden demand for space-based tools and solutions is pushing Isro to expand its operations significantly, he explained.

The agency was now looking at making one launch every month, to inject more satellites into space.

"We're still significantly short of capacity in space. We probably need double the number of satellites of what we have today, to give a reasonable level of service to the country. This means we have to enhance our ability to launch satellites and build these at a much faster pace," added Kiran Kumar.

He said they were, in this regard, aiming to increase the private sector's participation in India's space story.

"We have started the process and I assure you that we will do everything to make sure that we enable the industry in our country to not only contribute to our activities -we're also very interested in making sure that this industry can capture a part of the global market," said the Isro chief.