In the 113th episode of his monthly radio address, ‘Mann Ki Baat,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised advancements in India’s space sector, saying that the youth of the country have greatly benefited from space sector reforms. PM Modi also emphasized the significance of the recent National Space Day celebration on August 23.
“A lot is happening in 21st-century India, which is strengthening the foundation of a Viksit Bharat. For example, on August 23, the entire nation celebrated the first National Space Day. Once again, you all must have celebrated the success of Chandrayaan-3. Last year, on this day, Chandrayaan-3 landed at the Shiv-Shakti point on the moon’s southern hemisphere, making India the first country to achieve this feat,” PM Modi said.
“The youth of the country have also benefited immensely from space sector reforms,” he added.
The Prime Minister also spoke with leaders of Galaxeye, a space-tech startup founded by IIT Madras alumni. Modi inquired about how their technology would benefit the country.
Suyash, a member of Galaxeye, shared their journey, mentioning their participation in the “Hyperloop” project and their recognition as one of the top 20 teams out of 1,500 globally.
“During our engineering studies, we thought about a project called ‘Hyperloop.’ At that time, we started a team named ‘Avishkar Hyperloop’ and we took our idea to America. That year, we were the only team from Asia to participate, and we proudly hoisted our national flag there. We were among the top 20 teams out of around 1,500 from across the world,” Suyash said in response to the PM’s question.
He praised the government’s decision to open up the space sector for privatization, saying, “Watching SpaceX and witnessing the PM’s decision to open up the space sector for privatization, a landmark decision was made in 2020.”
“We were quite excited about this,” he added.
PM Modi congratulated the team on their achievement. The team explained that their technology could see through clouds and operate at night, providing clear images of any location in India on a daily basis.
“So, we can capture clear images of any corner of the country every day. The data we collect will be used to develop two key areas. First, to make India extremely secure by monitoring our borders, oceans, and seas daily, tracking enemy activities, and providing intelligence to our armed forces. The second is to empower Indian farmers. We have already developed a product for shrimp farmers in India that can measure the quality of water in their ponds from space at 1/10th of the current cost. Moving forward, we aim to generate the highest quality satellite images to help combat global issues like global warming,” said one of the team members.
PM Modi inquired about the technology’s precision, and the team responded that it offers resolutions of less than 50 cm, covering over 300 sq km at a time.
Another team member told the Prime Minister that many policies, like the ‘Geo-Spatial Data Policy’ and ‘Indian Space Policy,’ have undergone significant changes in the last three years. Additionally, ISRO’s infrastructure and facilities have become more accessible to them.
“For instance, we can now easily go to ISRO to test our hardware. This has been very helpful for us and for many startups,” he noted.
PM Modi concluded by stating that when a reform takes place in a sector, it has multiple effects and benefits many people.
“The country’s youth now aspire to build their futures in this field, right here in India,” he said.