Bolden encourages collaboration

Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden Jr, US Science Envoy for Space and Former NASA Administrator, has impressed up on the Indian industry leaders the need for public-private partnership (PPP) in space activities.

He provided a glimpse of the benefits that could be reaped for humanity through international space collaboration.

Maj. Gen. Bolden said that his primary role as a private citizen now was to encourage international space collaboration and to build upon the robust cooperation between US and Indian scientists and space engineers.

He dwelt on topics ranging from commercialisation of space exploration, challenges facing space policy, space engineering and international space law.

NASA, he said, could help train Indian astronauts undertake space missions of ISRO. For putting up astronauts in space, ISRO does not require NASA’s permission. NASA could share its expertise and training facilities for which there was a commercial price to be paid. “It’s all about shared risks and shared rewards”, he said.

The interaction session was organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on 8 Mar 2019.

A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, Physical Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Former Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman ISRO, gave an overview of the long-standing collaboration between Indian and the US, starting from the NASA satellite that was borrowed by India for the country Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) programme.

He said the working relationship between NASA and ISRO had acquired an energetic dimension. There was now an increasing recognition of India’s capability on the space front and this confidence helps the two agencies to work shoulder-to-shoulder, he added.

The session was also addressed by Air Vice Marshal P.K. Srivastava (Retd.), Eminent Aerospace Expert and Former Director, Bharat Dynamics Limited and Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI. Fiinews.com