Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 19: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that India has entered the “Golden era” of Space Technology and the year 2017, in its first six months itself, has proved to be a year of a series of world records, more of which may follow in the next over five months left. He profusely congratulated the Team ISRO and Space Scientists for making India proud and said, the constant patronage and encouragement from none less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi had boosted the morale and performance of the scientific fraternity.
In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha by Members of Parliament, P.R. Sundaram of AIADMK and Satav Rajeev of Congress, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the year began with a world record of launching 104 satellites in a single go through a single rocket on 15th of February. This feat decisively broke the earlier record set by Russia by launching 37 satellites in a single go.
The most proud moment for the nation, according to Dr Jitendra Singh, came on the 15th of May when Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launched, the first of its kind, South Asia Satellite and the heads of States from six countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan participated in this event through video conferencing. This satellite would cater to the navigation, communication and other needs of these countries and has placed India on the pedestal of a magnanimous, caring neighbour which is ready to share its resources in the Space for the benefit of the world community, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, close on the heels of launching of South Asia Satellite, India launched GSLV Mk-III with 4 ton launch capacity on 5th of June, which gave it a decisive advantage over most of the other nations and also improved upon its own capability which was earlier limited to relatively light weight satellites.
Amidst applause from both the treasury and the opposition benches, Dr Jitendra Singh announced the completion of 1,000 days of the Mars Orbiter Mission in orbit on 19th of June. Not only this, in the first six months of the current year, he disclosed that ISRO has, so far, launched 130 foreign satellites which is more than the total number of satellites launched by any country during any given year.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Prime Minister Modi had been personally following up the Space Missions and their achievements. It is a matter of pride, he said, the Space Programme of India which began half-a-century ago with meagre resources has now become a source of inspiration and inputs for the leading Space Centres of advanced nations, including the United States and Russia, which had initiated their Space Programme much before India.
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