Sustainable development, environment and public health are future thrust areas for ISRO

The new focus areas of research at ISRO will primarily be aimed at finding solutions for sustainable development, food and water security, environment, education and healthcare.

Speaking at the 11th Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Silver Jubilee, K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), confirmed the development.

In his lecture on ‘ISRO Saga Forward’, Radhakrishnan said, ‘Indian space programmes are society-driven. In the 1960s, India was beset with several basic problems like public health and illiteracy. Hence, the focus was to use communication satellites to solve these immediate problems.

‘The future thrust areas for ISRO will be in food and water security, weather and climate, environment and ecosystem, sustainable development, education and healthcare,’ Radhakrishnan stated.

Sharing the vision of ISRO for the next 20 years, he said, ‘We are working on GSAT 5P and RISAT-1, the satellite Aperture Radar, which enables the satellite to look at the earth even in the presence of cloud cover.’