Will the giant leaps of India in space technology — thanks to organizations such as Isro — open a new frontier for entrepreneurs? During a discussion in the Red Brick Summit (RBS) at IIM-A, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said that tremendous opportunities are opening up with fast-evolving technology, and there is scope for collaboration between public and private sectors.

"There is a big demand for location-based services and geospatial technology for applications such as vehicle tracking," said Kumar. "We provide data and computational facilities from centres such as Hyderabad for geospatial data, and from Ahmedabad for weather-related data — without the limitation for product generation. Inputs are available as data but solutions have to be found by entrepreneurs." He said that opportunities can be developed through alternate applications on the basis of hardware developed by Isro. "Entrepreneurs can also look at solving a particular problem by inventing suitable technology," he said. "For example, a Bengaluru company is developing a new thruster technology for us."

On the role that management students can play in space technology, Kumar said that there are two avenues: enter the technology development field and provide solutions to Isro in terms of launch vehicles, satellites, etc; or make use of developed technology to provide it to consumers. "The younger generation is ready to take up challenging work despite high risks," he said. "Globally, the situation is changing fast and there are opportunities in research and development, as space exploration is the new frontier."

Kumar said that the agency is trying to push the launch frequency to reduce gap between capacity and requirement. He also talked about a project in which Isro is devising mechanism for Indian Railways to improve safety. During his presentation, Kumar gave a snapshot of India's journey into space through different missions and their outcomes. He said that the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is a success, completing 1,000 days in the Mars orbit in June this year. He said satellite launch vehicles such as PSLV and GSLV have evolved over the years to meet requirements and future plans.