ISRO, DRDO pursuing research to lessen cost of access to space

DRDO and ISRO is actively pursuing research on various technologies to bring down the cost of access to space.

DRDO and ISRO is actively pursuing research on various technologies to bring down the cost of access to space, former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam said today.

"Efficiency of solar collection also need to be enhanced using nano technologies," Kalam said while inaugurating a week long Space Festival, being organised by Bharathiar University in association with ISRO and DRDO and in collaboration with NASA.

For the transmission of energy and component design, nano packets need to be evolved, he said.

A combination of these efforts along with many other research possibilities to be carried out by DRDO and ISRO, in association with international space agencies such as NASA and other countries, should be capable of bringing down the cost of the space solar power installation to reasonable limits within near future, he said.

"There is a need to bring down the cost. The long term cost of a space solar power plant for the period of 20 years of operation has to be brought down to under 0.10 dollar per KG to make it economically sustainable," he said.

Hyperplane, with an efficiency of 15 per cent (payload to overall weight) from the existing two per cent and with the ability to be relaunched multiple times, would certainly be instrumental in bringing down the cost of placing the solar power station into the orbit from the existing USD 20,000 per kg to less than USD 2,000 per kg, Kalam said.