Chennai: India should take the lead in establishing an Asian Space Agency (ASA) on the lines of European Space Agency (ESA), for regional collaborations in space missions, said former Isro scientist S Nambinarayanan on Friday.
If China joins the coalition, it could help resolve many issues including the Sino-Indian border dispute.
At the Loyola Centenary Conclave organised in association with The Times of India, Nambi Narayanan said that even in the event of China staying away, India could collaborate with countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, and even the Middle East and Australia.
This collaboration can support various launch mission services including tracking and command.
“It will be a fantastic situation if China joins because it will solve many other problems. There won’t be any border issues. Middle Eastern countries will also be eager to join. India is the fourth among space-faring nations, so there is no competition. But there is a question of raising funds,” he said.
Acknowledging that India quickly caught up with spacefaring giants such as the US and Russia, he said India’s growth was, however, not exponential since the 1990s. “With solid propulsion systems, we reached a saturation point. With liquid systems, we have a long way to go. We still don’t have a high-thrust liquid engine to send payloads of 10 tonnes to 20 tonnes,” he said.
He stressed that a high-thrust engine is crucial for sending astronauts to space.
As work progresses on Gaganyaan, he said, India lacks expertise in areas like space medicine, which is essential for protecting astronauts from radiation and other hazards.
“The number of satellites we send every year has gone up. We have the technology to look at Earth from outer space. But we need money and more manpower,” he said.
When asked about life beyond Earth, Nambi Narayanan said: “There’s no doubt, aliens exist.”