The space applications, through the launch of satellites, though an expensive affair, have rendered innumerable benefits to society, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said here on Monday.
Addressing the valediction of ‘World Space Week 2018’ celebrations got up by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Sriharikota, at Adhiyamaan Engineering College, here, Mr. Purohit said that since the first human -- Neil Armstrong -- stepped on the moon in 1969, only a dozen people have walked on it, and none since 1972.
As space flight was prohibitively expensive, human space travel might depend on private enterprise instead of the government funding it, he said.
Mr. Purohit said the first ‘space tourist’ was Dennis Tito, an American, reportedly paid $20 million for a seat on a Russian mission to the International Space Station in 2001. A sum of $25 million from another American millionaire funded the first private spacecraft, Spaceship One, for travelling into outer space in 2004.
In the same year, Virgin Galactic began accepting reservations for suborbital space flights and had since developed Spaceship Two to carry passengers into space. Another company, Xcor Aerospace, was building the Lynx.
The Governor said the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre of ISRO organised the Space Week celebrations to commemorate the launching of the first man-made satellite into space and highlight the benefits of Indian space programme.
On Satish Dhawan Space Centre, he said the Centre provided world class launch base infrastructure for national and international customers in accomplishing diverse launch vehicle / satellite missions for remote sensing, communication, navigation and scientific purposes and was among the best known space ports in the world.
Director of the space centre S. Pandian and Project Director R. Venkatraman also spoke. Minister for Sports Development P. Balakrishna Reddy, Secretary to Governor R. Rajagopal, and District Collector S. Prabhakar, and Chairman of the organising committee B. Munirathinam were present.
