Nambi Narayanan calls Chandrayaan-3 a game-changer, says 'India will inspire…'
The former ISRO scientist said that a successful Chandrayaan-3 will help India boost its share in the global space business.
Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan on Thursday hailed Chandrayaan-3 as a potential game-changer that will serve as an inspiration to the whole world. His comments come on the eve of the launch of India’s ambitious moon mission. He added that the third lunar exploration mission is trying to avoid the problems that happened with Chandrayaan-2.
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''Chandrayaan-3 will definitely be a game changer for India and I hope it will be successful. India will become an inspiration to the entire world. Let's wait for the launch and pray for the best..." he said.
Talking to news agency PTI, Narayanan said that a successful landing will make India the fourth country - the others being the United States, China and the former Soviet Union - to achieve this feat. Apart from boosting the economy and development in the space sector, it will also improve India's share from the present 2 per cent in the 600 billion-dollar industry.
Read: All you need to know about India's Chandrayaan-3 and its benefits for the US
Lauding private players in space technology, the aerospace scientist said that it enhances the scope for startups and more funding to enter the realm. "Many foreign countries may also land here with their startups or add to an existing startup," Narayanan added.
Narayanan, who was at the centre of a conspiracy to frame him in an espionage case, said that indigenously developed technology is essential for a country to survive. "When compared to other nations, our spending for such missions is a pittance," he noted.
Narayanan said we will have to wait till August 23 or 24 to know the success of the mission as the landing would take place on those dates.
Read: 'Not just India, world waiting for Chandrayaan-3's success'
He also talked about the need for establishing an Asian Space Agency (ASA) similar to the European Space Agency (ESA), with or without China, for taking up bigger space missions.
Chandrayan-2 managed to land on the Moon but failed to do a soft landing due to software and mechanical issues.
Chandrayaan-3 will be launched Friday at 2.35pm on Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. A day before the launch, a team ISRO scientists visited the Tirupati Venkatachalapathy Temple with a miniature model of Chandrayaan-3.
(With inputs from PTI)