ISRO is looking to design and build new reusable rockets for the global market, says ISRO President
India is said to be planning to design and build a new reusable rocket for the global market, announced the Minister of Space and President of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) S Somanath. during the Bengaluru Space Expo (BSX) 2022 on Monday. ISRO’s next launch vehicle after the GSLV Mk III could be a reusable vehicle and it is expected to reduce the cost of launching satellites. The space agency is supposed to work with the space industry, startups and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) on reusable rockets.
As reported by PTI, in the 7th edition of Bengaluru Space Expo 2022, ISRO President S Somanath has announced plans to design and build a new reusable rocket. Currently, ISRO costs from $10,000 (approximately Rs 7,97,800) to $15,000 (approximately Rs 11,96,800) to put a one-kilogram payload into orbit.
Somanath reports that ISRO will have to reduce it to $5,000 (about Rs 3,98,000) or even $1,000 (about Rs 79,700) per kilogram, and the only way to do so is to make the rocket reusable use. He added that the country still does not have reusable technology in the field of launch vehicles.
He told PTI that the next rocket that ISRO builds after GSLV-MK3 must be reusable. ISRO has been working on various technologies including Inflatable Aerodynamic Reducers (IADs), he said, adding that by combining these new technologies, the space agency wants to collaborate with industry. businesses, startups and commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to build a new usable rocket.
“I would like to see this (proposal) take shape in the next few months,” he said, adding that post-conscious and production-friendly rocket development must happen over the next few years to Space agencies can retire all those operating launch vehicles (in India) at the appropriate time.
