Self-eating rockets, self-vanishing sats, make-in-space: Isro eyes futuristic tech

From self-eating rockets to self-vanishing satellites and from make-in-space concepts to quantum communication and radars, Isro, whose role in the coming years would be significantly more focused towards preparing India for the future while private enterprises indulge in day-to-day launches, has initiated 46 projects on futuristic technologies.

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Self-Eating-Rockets & Vanishing Sats

Elaborating on some technologies, Isro chairman, K Sivan told TOI on Tuesday: “All our rockets have metal casings that are dropped into the sea after launch or become (final stage) space debris. We are working on a technology where rockets will effectively ‘eat themselves’ leaving no waste dropping into seas and no space debris. For this, we’re looking at special materials for casings that can burn up along with motors.”

Similarly, to further mitigate space debris, self-vanishing satellite technology would enable spacecraft destruction — after its lifetime — through a ‘kill-button’, or a process that will burn it up in-orbit.

“Also, when rockets fly, there are defects sometimes, like formation of a crack due to pressure etc. At present, we keep doing multiple checks before clearing anything. Self-healing materials will be those that can correct some of these defects by themselves without interference. There’s a lot of work to do,” he said.

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