‘US experts wanted India to share space tech with them’

RAMESWARAM: ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Sunday said experts involved in developing complex rocket missions in the US, after witnessing the developmental activities of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, suggested that India share space technology with them.

Times have changed and India is capable of building the best of devices and rockets and that is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened the space sector to private players, he said at an event here.

Somanath was addressing students at an event organised by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s Foundation, commemorating the 92nd birth anniversary of the late former President..

“Our country is a very powerful nation. You understand that? Our knowledge and intelligence level in the country is one of the best in the world,” the ISRO chief said, explaining, “In Chandrayaan-3, when we designed and developed the spacecraft, we invited experts from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA-JPL, who does all the rockets and most difficult mission.”

He continued: “About 5-6 people from NASA-JPL came (to ISRO headquarters) and we explained to them about Chandrayaan-3. That was before the soft landing took place (on August 23). We explained how we designed it and how our engineers made it...and how we are going to land on the Moon’s surface, and they just said, ‘no comments. everything is going to be good’.” JPL is a research and development laboratory funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and managed by California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) in the United States of America.

“They (US space experts) also said one thing, ‘look at the scientific instruments, they are very cheap. Very easy to build and they are high technology. How did you build it? Why don’t you sell this to America,’ they were asking,” he said.

India successfully touched down near the south pole of lunar surface with the Chandrayaan-3’s lander on August 23, making it only the fourth country to achieve the feat of a Moon landing after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.