The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started work on its most ambitious project yet - sending humans into space.
The government has approved research and development work relating to the manned space mission. It has okayed start of pre- project R&D activities leading to detailed definition of the manned mission, according to the budget presented in Parliament this week.
This, however, does not amount to approval of the mission itself which could cost thousands of crores of rupees.
In this year's budget, Rs 150 crore has been allocated for the manned mission, as against a token amount of Rs 30 crore given last year.
The space agency plans to 'develop a fully autonomous manned space vehicle', capable of carrying two humans into a 400- km low- earth orbit and safely returning to Earth.
Detailed studies have been initiated on the technology required to realise the flight safety and reliability, propulsion systems and advanced materials.
ISRO is also working on a related project called the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment ( SRE), aimed at developing and demonstrating capability to recover orbiting capsules.
The SRE- I was launched onboard PSLV- C7 in January 10, 2007 and was recovered from the Bay of Bengal on January 22, 2007.
Now, the agency is developing the SRE- II capsule.
The second moon mission has got a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore this year, compared with just Rs 19.5 crore last year.
Chandrayaan- 1 was launched on October 22, 2008, on- board the PSLV- C11.
The follow- on mission, Chandrayaan- 2, has been slated for launch in 2012. The mission objective of Chandrayaan- 2 is to soft land at a suitable site on the lunar surface and to carry out chemical analyses.
Among several satellite launches scheduled over the next year is the first of a series of GPS satellites called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System ( IRNSS).
A constellation of seven satellites has been planned. When fully in place, it would provide position accuracies similar to the GPS with a coverage extending upto 1,500 km from India.
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