Over the Moon: Chandrayaan readies to land, India Inc prepares to take off

Isro Chairman S Somnath revealed during the launch that 85 per cent of the LVM-3 rocket came from the private sector

“Welcome, buddy!”

This is how the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter greeted the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module on Monday, as the two communicated for the first time. This, an industry expert points out, symbolises the emergence of a modern Isro — short for the Indian Space Research Organisation, India’s space agency — conversant with today’s lingo.

Today’s Isro is also comfortable in the midst of private sector companies. Several private sector firms are an integral part of Chandrayaan-3, India’s third moon mission (see: ONBOARD CHANDRA­YAAN-3). On Tuesday, executives from some of these companies were at Isro’s headquarters in Bengaluru, providing last-minute assistance.

Isro Chairman