ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan unveils future plans at BITS convocation

In order to address India’s growing need for connectivity, broadband internet and rural connectivity, ISRO is looking at foreign industrial alliance for technology partnership.

“We are looking at communication satellites in the higher frequency bands with about 15 kW of power, which can handle data in the range of 10 Giga bits per second,” said Dr K Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO at the convocation ceremony of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Hyderabad.

Unveiling ISRO’s radmap for the coming years, Dr Radhakrishnan added that the organization will partner with Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA to develop a dual frequency microwave imaging satellite by 2019-20. By the end of 2014, two of the proposed seven Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) will be launched.

“There are just 46 days left for the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft to reach the orbit of the red planet. If successful, we will be the first Asian country to have succeeded,” added Radhakrishnan.
The emphasis on developing entrepreneurship among researchers was highlighted by V S Rao, director of BITS Hyderabad in context of incubating ideas on ICT in healthcare, pharmaceuticals ad biotechnolgy. “Of the seven full-time incubates in the Technology Business Incubator on campus, three have been funded by Department of Biotechnology to the tune of Rs 1.35 crore overall,” he added.

The class of 2013-14 saw 3310 students graduating across undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD. Chancellor of the university, Dr Kumar Mangalam Birla was also present.