• Source:JND
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ISRO Chief S Somanath on Saturday praised American Entrepreneur-Businessman Elon Musk for the pioneering work done by his company SpaceX in commercial space exploration and the invention of reusable rockets. Hailing the recent rocket-catch experiment by Musk's company, the Director of the Indian space agency said that people often ask him when ISRO do the same. They ask other agencies like Europe, Russia and others as well, Somanath said.

Somanath then drew attention to how Elon Musk's work is attracting people to the space sector and inspiring people across the world. The celebrated scientist, with many successful ISRO missions under the hood, further highlighted the need for private players in the growing space industry.

"The person there in the US, Elon Musk, is making, heads turn with the type of rockets that he has captured with the chopsticks recently and people are asking when ISRO is going to do this...Everyone is looking at Elon Musk, what he is doing there and how we can come up with some fantastic idea that we can beat him," S Somanath said while addressing the students of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

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ISRO Chief further hailed Musk's efforts, saying that due to the work done by people like him, young people are looking at the space sector with great passion.

"Of course, everybody wants to beat him, but he is above all of that. I think he is such a great man doing fantastic work. We are all inspired by this work. It is because of this that the space is becoming very attractive today. Young people are looking at it with great passion. We are looking at it in a manner in which the technology is becoming accessible to people...," he added.

Somanath also emphasised the participation of private players and private investment in India's space story. Advocating for more private partnerships in the space sector, he said that 'the application domains, doing work, creating value in this have to get out.'

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"The application domain is growing. Also, its impact on the economy, employability, and job creation is growing. These domains are very important and that's why the government has recently taken the initiative to open up the space sector, bringing in more private investment and private participation. It's a domain that cannot be kept controlled and regulated. Of course, there is some knowledge that needs to be controlled and regulated, but the application domains, doing work, creating value in this have to get out of those vaults that have been covering the space systems," he said.

His remarks followed a giant leap in human space exploration by US space giant SpaceX, which captured and returned the first-ever Super Heavy booster after a launch using 'chopsticks' handles on the launch pad.