India weighs options on human space flight program

Bangalore: India is weighing the pros and cons of going in for collaboration for its ambitious human space flight programme but a final decision would be driven by the extent of technological gains accrued to New Delhi from it.

Different models are possible in undertaking the proposed Mission, first mooted nearly a decade ago, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan told PTI.

Radhakrishnan, also Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Space Commission, said there is a lot of discussion globally on collaboration in human space flight programmes (not India-specific, but general in nature).

"So, then, we should decide what we have to do in this area. There are different models available," he said.

One possibility is to have a human being (Indian) flown in Soyuz (Russian rocket) or some other system. "It?s like paying the money, getting into it, conduct a small experiment and come back. That?s one part of it," he said.

Another model is to make a crew module indigenously and use a man-rate vehicle (rocket) of a foreign space agency, and the third option for India is to develop the rocket and associated technologies on its own and undertake the mission.

"All these things are there. The question is how much technology you will earn, what benefit you will get out of it (in case of collaboration). One has to weigh it because you (India) must have a long-term programme for it (human space flights). We are not doing for the sake of doing it (the human space flight mission) actually," Radhakrishnan said. (MORE)

PTI