ISRO Announces New Commercial Arm NSIL To Amplify Revenue For Future Missions

To amplify India's space research sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be backed by a new commercial arm called the New Space India Limited (NSIL).

The main motive of the NSIL will be to help the Indian space agency commercialize its launch vehicle and other technologies to other space agencies and companies. This will also help ISRO fund its space exploration missions to other planets and its own space station slated to launch by 2030.

The new move will help ISRO transfer its small satellite technology to different sectors, manufacture small satellite launch vehicle (SLV), and others. The new arm will also be looking after the units developed by the Department of Space. NSIL will also be launching satellites using the small satellites launch vehicles (SSLV).

Besides, the Indian government has also ensured that the Indian Space Station will offer unmatched facilities for research. The advantages will include benefits in areas such as human health, disaster relief, and food and water conservation.

The space station will be an integral part of human spaceflight program as it allows sustained human presence in space and performs meaningful research, said Jitendra Singh, MoS in the Prime Minister's Office. However, he emphasized that the idea is still at an early stage.

"India's plan of a space station is a long-term plan after successful operationalization of Gaganyaan," he said.

The world is witnessing a lot of disruptive technologies being developed. NASA is said to be planning to develop a GPS system for the Moon which will help the crew during the Artemis missions.

A GPS system on the Moon will help the astronauts navigate on the lunar surfaces and will help ground controllers who track spacecraft from Earth. NASA is said to working on this technology for the past decade and has successfully managed to develop a GPS system for half the distance to the Earth's natural satellite, as a part of its MMS Mission.