Is India’s ISRO the most successful Space Agency after NASA?

[Varun]

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A fair analysis. Despite the very low budget (0.68% of GDP), you only seem to hear positive stories emanating from around ISRO. Which is quite unlike their sloth counterparts down the road - HAL, DRDO et al.

 

[Napa]

Quite exciting the work ISRO is doing. Does make one wonder why HAL and DRDO are such underperformers?

The next wave of space exploration will however likely be led by private firms like SpaceX.

 

[Varun]

The next wave of space exploration will however likely be led by private firms like SpaceX.

SpaceX and Elon Musk and the like should take charge of all the Low Earth Orbit stuff. Leave the heavy lifting to NASA - the force behind Apollo, the Voyager spacecraft, the Shuttle, Hubble etc.

But it seems that the whole world has stood still in the field of space exploration since the end of the 1970s. The only way to get up and down now is the Soyuz from the 1950s, and even the destination - the ISS - is scheduled to be de-orbited in the 2020s.

We aren't moving beyond the newspaper headlines.

 

[Sidilicious]

SpaceX and Elon Musk and the like should take charge of all the Low Earth Orbit stuff. Leave the heavy lifting to NASA - the force behind Apollo, the Voyager spacecraft, the Shuttle, Hubble etc.

But it seems that the whole world has stood still in the field of space exploration since the end of the 1970s. The only way to get up and down now is the Soyuz from the 1950s, and even the destination - the ISS - is scheduled to be de-orbited in the 2020s.

We aren't moving beyond the newspaper headlines.

For now, its time for us to move from Space Exploration for the heck of it, to more practical applications. Thats where ISRO, SpaceX et all have been valuable.

 

[Varun]

For now, its time for us to move from Space Exploration for the heck of it, to more practical applications. Thats where ISRO, SpaceX et all have been valuable.

What is practical and what is not? You never know what you might uncover in space, and that was NASA's thought going back a few decades.

We need to do something serious this century - if not colonizing another planet or moon, at least mining minerals from there. This LEO stuff is not ambitious enough.

 

[Napa]

SpaceX and Elon Musk and the like should take charge of all the Low Earth Orbit stuff. Leave the heavy lifting to NASA - the force behind Apollo, the Voyager spacecraft, the Shuttle, Hubble etc.

But it seems that the whole world has stood still in the field of space exploration since the end of the 1970s. The only way to get up and down now is the Soyuz from the 1950s, and even the destination - the ISS - is scheduled to be de-orbited in the 2020s.

We aren't moving beyond the newspaper headlines.

Actually I think NASA should get out of space exploration and leave it to Musk and ISRO. It is a horribly inefficient organization. It spent about $800 million getting MAVEN to Mars, while ISRO got Mangalyaan there for about $75 million (granted Mangalyaan was a smaller craft, but still...).

As you say, nothing has happened since the 1970s. The Moon landing was Braun's baby. Braun, you may recall was a Nazi, an SS officer no less. Certainly not a product of NASA.

Musk has taken space launches to their next logical step. Why waste a rocket? Make it land and reuse it. Such thinking is beyond the ability of bureaucrats at NASA, which reached its nadir under Obama appointed administrator Bowden, who claimed that Obama told him one of his top priorities was to “find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...chief-on-muslim-comment-idUSTRE66B6MQ20100712

 

[shaz619]

ESA have a roadmap for their aurora programme and in the past have been involved in many exploration activities and collabs with NASA, although I'd say more recently focus is on living planet issues. NASA will always do all the heavy lifting in that area but other member states of space agencies around the world work closely with them at times.

I don't see private firms having a long term interest in investing in areas outside civil aerospace and LEO well in Europe anyway, that is unless goverment funds such projects largely; but they tend to be more interested in whatever can be monetised in not as big a time scale, Reaction Engines found it difficult to fund their single stage reusable space access and Mach 5 cruise application project until now, this was a very practical concept so from our point of view space exploration will find it tough unless private investors provide the required funding which is unlikely. But there are goverment projects in this area, financially justifying them is key though for long term progression and only NASA completely follow through on their activities due to their budget.

 

[shaz619]

Quite exciting the work ISRO is doing. Does make one wonder why HAL and DRDO are such underperformers?

The next wave of space exploration will however likely be led by private firms like SpaceX.

From what I hear HAL and DRDO invest heavily in R&D which can also lack direction in practical terms which prevents them from following up on the work they do.

 

[Napa]

ESA have a roadmap for their aurora programme and in the past have been involved in many exploration activities and collabs with NASA, although I'd say more recently focus is on living planet issues. NASA will always do all the heavy lifting in that area but other member states of space agencies around the world work closely with them at times.

I don't see private firms having a long term interest in investing in areas outside civil aerospace and LEO well in Europe anyway, that is unless goverment funds such projects largely; but they tend to be more interested in whatever can be monetised in not as big a time scale, Reaction Engines found it difficult to fund their single stage reusable space access and Mach 5 cruise application project until now, this was a very practical concept so from our point of view space exploration will find it tough unless private investors provide the required funding which is unlikely. But there are goverment projects in this area, financially justifying them is key though for long term progression and only NASA completely follow through on their activities due to their budget.

The Falcon Heavy rocket currently being developed by SpaceX can send a payload weighing 16,800 kg to Mars and has the highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle. The Chinese Long March 9, if it is ever successfully developed, will be able to send a payload of 44,000 kg to Mars.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Congratulations ISRO,

You continue to make us proud.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1900811254639587470

 

[Devadwal]

ISRO is doing great work.

Congratulations ISRO.

Congratulations ISRO,

You continue to make us proud.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1900811254639587470

 

[Devadwal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1923648038574358628

 

[Bhaijaan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1923648038574358628

Yalgaar ho

Keep them inter continental nuclear missiles ready for the war to come.

Turkey must not what’s coming for them