New Delhi, Oct. 24: The Indian Space Reaserch Organisation (ISRO) is under the Government of India, and it will not be privatised, the chairperson of the agency, V. Narayanan, said on Saturday. However, some of its operations will be performed by the private sector on a commercial basis, he noted.

The remarks come amid questions on whether the Union government intends to transfer the agency’s launch-vehicle and satellite manufacturing to private firms.

“Our space programme is 64 years old, we have as many as 56 satellites. But the demand is for thousands of satellites,” Narayanan said during a graduation event at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur.

Highlighting the Indian Space Policy, 2023, he said that the ISRO will handhold startups and private companies to work in the space sector. “The space ecosystem in the country and the country’s economy will grow, resulting in job opportunities. When a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket takes off, 75% of our budget is pumped into the private industries. The private companies are also contributing. People must not misinterpret that as ISRO will be privatised,” the chairperson stressed.

He also noted that the upcoming launch of the navigation satellite, NVS-03, planned for October 30, is going as per schedule and that the launch vehicle was moved to the launch pad on Saturday.

Talking about the Gaganyaan mission, he said that the rocket is ready and the crew escape system on the rocket module has also been developed. “The environmental and safety system in space has been developed. We plan to send three rockets unmanned and we are working on the first rocket. We will soon test the first rocket and then send the other two unmanned rockets. If all these are successful, then we will send a manned rocket. So far 8,000 experiments have been conducted on land.”

He said that Chandrayaan-4, which will land on the moon and return with a sample, is being planned for 2028.

A total of 455 students received their graduation certificates at the convocation ceremony. As many as 217 candidates from postgraduate degrees and 238 from undergraduate courses got their certificates.-Agencies