INDEPENDENCE DAY SPECIAL NATION BUILDING

appropriate to undertake MRO of these platforms to a third-party Indian firm. What must be appreciated is that both the civil and military MRO is a National Air Power asset and needs to in sync to enhance the combat potential of air power. There is a necessity to co-operate and collaborate in this endeavour to exploit and take advantage of the combined skill sets, infrastructure for optimum and economic utilisation of infrastructure of the country.

A&D ATMANIRBHARTA

The Aerospace and Defence (A&D) sector in India is at an inflection point, given the modernisation and indigenisation programmes being undertaken by all the three services. India has also identified the A&D sector as a focus area for the Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme and has taken considerable steps to establish indigenous manufacturing infrastructure supported by requisite research and development ecosystem. The establishment of two defence corridors at Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will focus on the development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities and in turn become the springboard for all development to use space technology for national development with a primary objective to establish operational space services in a self-reliant manner. India is now globally recognised for building low-cost satellites and launch vehicles. In terms of technological capabilities India ranks among the top five space faring nations of the world. activities undertaken by the government in the aviation sector. General Electric (GE) Aerospace has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HAL to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force. The IAF will be the key beneficiary as it would have a family of indigenous state-of-the-art aero-engines and fighter jets which would not be dependent on foreign vendors. The IAF’s combat capability will be enhanced further as the same engines will be used for the twin-engine Advanced Multi-role Combat Aircraft (AMCA-I) and naval carrier-based jet. This would act as a catalyst for transforming the Indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant Aatmanirbhar self-sustaining ecosystem.

An independent nodal agency under Department of Space, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) has been created on June 24, 2020, to boost the dissemination of space technology for Space Economy for Aatmanirbhar Bharat. These give a major fillip to private sector space industry, including the start-ups and enable commercialisation of space technology, boost private investments, preparing the youth as space leaders, innovations in the sector for the progress of humanity. In March 2019, Cabinet approved creation of new company NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to enhance ISRO-Industry interface & carry out commercialisation of ISRO’s space products & services.

Over the last five decades, ISRO has been successful in the development of indigenous end-to-end capability in space technology and space activities. This has also led to the growth in Indian industries, with more than 500 MSMEs, PSUs and large private industries contributing significantly to the Indian space programme. The involvement of industries in space activities has created jobs for around 45,000 people in the country. Many sectors like defence production, telecom, materials, chemicals and precision engineering have benefitted from this exercise.

Indian Remote Sensing satellite fleet, communication and high throughput satellites of GSAT series, NavIC (NAVigation with Indian Constellation), the operational launch vehicles PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV Mk-III provide assured access to space for launching satellites for earth observation, communication, navigation and space exploration. SSLV, a dedicated small launcher which will cater to the global shift towards small satellites is under development. ISRO’s two launchpads at the spaceport of Sriharikota near Chennai, provide space launch capability for the country.

Indian Space Sector

The space activities in India started with the setting up of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962. Initial years saw the work on atmospheric studies with the establishment of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) established in 1969, took the space programme to altogether new level with programmes aimed at exploiting the benefits of space technology for the national and societal development. The Indian Space programme is characterised by a vision

The Indian space science exploration programme is engaged in developments for its future space science mission like the next mission to Moon Chandrayaan-3, solar exploration mission Aditya-L1 and space observatory XpoSat. The Gaganyaan programme aims at realising human spaceflight capability by undertaking a mission to convey humans to Low Earth Orbit and return them safely back to earth, using an Indian Orbital Module and Indian human-rated launch vehicle. ISROs sustained efforts over the last six decades has ensured that sky is not the limit, it’s the world beyond, making India proud.

Resilient Future Of Aviation Sector

Aviation sector is now accepted as a fundamental pillar of our Indian society, as indispensable to our daily lives as medicine & telecommunications and essential for social progress & economic prosperity. The growing availability of affordable air travel has considerably widened aviation’s role in our sustainable society and is no longer a luxury. The air transport industry has not only reinforced wealth creation, but has also brought enormous benefits to Indian economy by unlocking their potential in various related sectors including trade and tourism. With a responsive government the A&D sector is bound to grow in Atmanirbhar Bharat. SP