People looking for space tourism: A S Kiran Kumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The people are now looking for space tourism and space adventure, according to Mr A. S.  Kiran Kumar, chairman,  Indian Space Research Organisation.  Inaugurating the golden jubilee of  Composites Entity at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre here, he said the use of   composite technology for space applications which started off with Vikram Sarabhai and  Satish Dhawan had increased under the leadership of many stalwarts producing outstanding results.

“In future, there will be demand for space tourism and space habitat where composite technology will play a vital role considering the light weight and better performance of the materials,” he said. VSSC director Dr. K. Sivan opined that the journey towards an ‘all-composite launch vehicle’ was not a distant dream. All the space launch vehicles have used composite materials right from the nozzle to payload fairing.

All former employees of VSSC who have been part of this technology were felicitated. As part of the event, a book of reminiscences of former employees was also released.  Experts in composites and former veterans delivered lectures during the symposium and shared their experiences of the initial days of development.