Nambi Narayanan expresses desire to set up Asia Aeronautics Space Agency

Says ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission captured the attention of several startups to tap the Indian space sector

Chennai: The historic success of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon has captured the attention of several startups to tap the Indian space sector, said former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan. Tamil Nadu Minister for Industries TRB Rajaa said the achievements of space scientists and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) should be celebrated.

Rajaa and former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan took part in the launch of space technology accelerator ‘Vaanam’ (Tamil word meaning sky) backed by its co-founders Sameer Bharat Ram and Hariharan Vedamurthy, on Wednesday. The space tech aims to nurture startups in the space sector by offering its expertise including seed fundings among others.

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“We are evaluating about 6 startups this year (to offer its expertise)”, Ram said. According to him, the Indian space economy pegged at $13 billion is expected to touch $44 billion in 10 years. Ram said Nambi Narayanan and actor Madhavan, who played the role of Narayanan himself, in the multilingual film ‘Rocketry’, have been inducted into the Board of Vaanam Space Tech accelerator.

Narayanan in a ‘Fireside Chat’ organised at the event observed that though there are about 189 startups in space technology, ‘majority’ of them were engaged in what ISRO did 50 years ago. “Why do you want to do something that ISRO did 50 years ago? You need to do what ISRO needs today and in that you will be able to compete globally, particularly with other countries.” he said.

Narayanan expressed his long-term desire to set up an Asia Aeronautics Space Agency (AASA) comprising Asian countries, in line with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States. “You may induct countries like Maldives, Mayanmar if they are interested (to set up the Asian Space Agency)” he said.

Welcoming Narayanan’s view, Rajaa remarked that the achievements of ISRO and space scientists should be celebrated and showcased to the world. “We need to celebrate these victories, instead of showcasing it as just one event. Achievements of ISRO and space scientists like Narayanan should be told (to the world)” he said.

Chennai holds third position in the presence of startups engaged in the space sector while the majority of such startups were based out of Bengaluru, he added. Narayanan said academic institutions should forge a partnership with space agencies like ISRO to foster education on space technology to students.