Panaji: Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair on Sunday said the country should
be proud of Chandrayaan-1 for being a successful low cost
planetary mission.
"Most of the missions are expensive between one and two
USD billion. India can be proud as Chandrayaan-1 was less than
USD 100-million mission," Nair told reporters shortly after
the mission was formally called off.
"We started the Indian mission inviting queries, the
response was very good. We spent USD 85 million, while USD 30
million were spent by the other partners," he said.
Through its maiden Rs 400 crore moon mission,
Chandrayaan 1, India has set a very good example, the ISRO
chief said.
"No country has done mission of this kind for less than
USD 500 million," said Nair, who was talking to reporters on
the eve of the start of the eighth international conference on
Low Cost Planetary missions.
The conference will be kicked off tomorrow by Goa Chief
Minister Digamber Kamat.
According to Nair, with the low cost involvement,
interest in planetary explorations will increase thereby
expanding the area of activities.
The interest of global community in low cost planetary
missions is good and it will also encourage agencies to take
up more missions, he said.
"The high cost is because of the design of the craft
which has to stand the pressure of radiation. Lot of man-hours
were taken to develop such system," he said, adding
experiences gained in the past reduced the cost of the
missions.
Bureau Report
