New Delhi: Around 60 start-ups have registered with ISRO since ‘unlocking’ of the Indian space sector recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and quite a few of them are dealing with projects related to space debris management. The other start-up proposals vary from Nano-satellite, launch vehicle, ground systems, research and so on.

This was stated by Union Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh while speaking after inaugurating the ‘ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Operation’ (IS4OM) at ISRO Control Centre, in Bengaluru today.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that only last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, during inauguration of IN-SPACe headquarters at Ahmedabad, said, “When the strength of government Space institutions and the passion of India’s private sector will meet, not even the sky will be the limit.”

The Minister reiterated that the passion of private players and innovative start-ups will augment the role of the Department of Space in protecting India’s interests in space by developing all-round capabilities in the domains of space transportation, debris management, infrastructure and applications.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that ISRO has been taking necessary measures to safeguard all its Space assets from intentional and accidental close approaches by space objects including operational spacecraft and space debris objects. He added that Space Situational Awareness activities have many strategic implications.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that given the ubiquitous applications of space technology in day-to-day life, the long-term sustainability (LTS) of outer space activities is of paramount importance to ensure that the outer Space remains utilizable to the future generations of mankind. He added that effective management of safe and sustainable operations in outer space entails a holistic approach encompassing multiple areas related to observation and monitoring of space objects.

Secretary, Department of Space, S Somanath said that infrastructure for space weather monitoring and forecast plays a critical role in protecting space based as well as ground-based infrastructure from critical solar activities. On an equal footing, detection and prevention of asteroid impacts are essential for human welfare.

However, the ever-growing space object population including that of operational satellites and orbital debris and the associated collision risks pose a serious threat to the safe and sustainable use of outer space. He said that the increasing congestion of Earth orbits pose a looming threat of collisions among larger debris that could trigger a self-sustained cascading process of further collisions, known as the Kessler syndrome. /BI/