The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch two initial missions later this year under the Gaganyaan programme, followed by country's maiden human space-flight mission in 2024, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said.
Lack of access to the cosmonaut training programmes would also be a hindrance for ISRO's planned manned missions, explains Devangshu Datta.
From The New York Times to BBC and The Guardian to The Washington Post, the historic event in India's space programme on Wednesday made headlines across the globe.
AzaadiSAT had around 75 small payloads developed by schoolgirls of 75 rural schools.
While participation of start-ups in the space sector has largely been minimal so far, their involvement will be key towards building India's very own aerospace companies such as Maxar, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Rocket Labs, according to experts.
While Team Indus had backing from Nandan Nilekani, Ratan Tata and Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, it could not even muster half of the Rs 4.5 billion it required for the mission to the moon.
In a shot in the arm for Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, founded by high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the California-based company scripted history when its Falcon-9 rocket booster successfully landed at Cape Canaveral after despatching 11 communications satellites to orbit.
Lauding India's ambitious space programme, The New York Times has said the country, currently witnessing an 'explosive' growth in space-tech start-ups, is set to 'transform the planet's connection to the final frontier' and can emerge as a 'counterweight' to China.
A S Kiran Kumar, chief of ISRO, said the mission was unsuccessful because the satellite housed within the heat sink could not be injected.
Billionaires are not only eyeing a profit as they push mankind out into the stars.
It appears India will be among those nations consigned to being among the watchers and not participants of this crucial phase, observes Aakar Patel.
The 10-minute flight went up more than 60 miles above Earth. On board the flight was Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, pilot Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen.
The eight active NASA astronauts and one former astronaut-turned-corporate crew member will launch on Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Dragoncapsules to the International Space Station beginning in 2019.
The spacecraft is the first to take the American astronauts to orbit from American soil in nearly a decade.
The warship is equipped with surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles and anti-submarine rocket launchers. It is also capable of carrying two anti-submarine warfare helicopters.
Around 600 scientists and engineers are hoping for the best as they forge ahead with plans of making an indigenous version of a space shuttle.
Dr Bhabha and Dr Sarabhai didn't feel guilty for their ambitions; it was for those 'mad scientists' that India is a powerhouse -- both at the atomic level and in the vastness of space, observes Kumar Abishek.
Boosting India's communication services, its latest satellite GSAT-16 was successfully launched on board Arianespace rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana in the early hours of Sunday, after a delay of two days due to bad weather.
Vasundhara Raje may have had her faults but she is an unconventional and brave leader who deserves better, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The coup attempt has weakened Putin's position and in desperation he may well sanction the use of nukes, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
K Sivan has to hasten the effort to bring in private players into satellite and rocket building and replicate India's software success in aerospace.
Chandrayaan-3's success is a must for India's space ambitions; we can't afford to lose out. And for realising our space dreams, the Indian private sector must be encouraged because if we lose this race, the moon, Mars, and mineral-rich asteroids will already be crowded before we reach there.
"I am really grateful to the entire ISRO family for having worked this hard and making IRNSS-1I a success," said the space centre's chief K Sivan.
In four years from now, you can holiday in space too.
In his latest monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, Modi said that India is capable of providing solutions to the varied challenges being faced globally.
'India has got a unique opportunity to get more and more business from outside as India is cost-effective and reliable.'
'Saying the private industry will come and transform India's space programme is real moonshine!'
Contributors to Team Indus project will have names etched on an object going to space.
Over 32 missions -- satellites and rockets -- have been planned for the year.
ISRO has an opportunity to be the one-stop shop for satellite manufacturing, and Alpha Design is just the booster it needed.
With the launch of GSLV-MK III, slated for April, it will be able to cater to bigger satellites as well.
Will space tourism with a niche market of serving only the uber-rich ever be profitable, asks Kumar Abishek.
About 800 people already have paid or put down deposits for rides on SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger, two-pilot suborbital spaceship owned by Virgin Galactic.
Bandla, a 34-year-old aeronautical engineer, on Sunday joined British billionaire Richard Branson and four others on board Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two Unity to make a journey to the edge of space from the US state of New Mexico
'In a part of the world where the government tells people what not to eat and what slogans to shout and not shout, it is beneficial to develop a mentality that is science minded and therefore open-minded.' 'That is possibly why the space programme has always had support from all sides of the political divide,' says Aakar Patel.
Commercial flights may also help Boeing's bottom line on a rare, fixed-price, government-backed development program.
China's and India's nuclear doctrines mandate 'No First Use' of nuclear weapons, so use against each other seems unlikely.
As remarkable as DRDO's contribution in containing and treating COVID-19 has been, its success over the last 15 months has been in its primary role of developing conventional defence equipment and technologies.
20 defence ministry reforms 'is a reflection of the resolve of the government to make the defence sector stronger and more efficient.'
'What we are trying for is to make space travel easier like air travel.' 'We have already established ourselves... the fact that other countries are coming to seek our help shows our technology is mature.'
On the morning of February 15, ISRO will hurl into space using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle three Indian satellites and 101 small foreign satellites. No other country has ever tried to hit a century in a single mission.
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