IIT Madras, Indian Space Association Call Indo-pacific Countries To Boost Space Industry

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, the US Consulate General Chennai and the Indian Space Association (ISpA), a non-profit industry body, call upon the governments and the business community in Indo-Pacific countries to boost scientific and business collaboration in the space technology sector, according to special service and features official statement.

It highlighted three core areas of further collaboration namely, Make in Space for Use in Space, Make on Earth for Use in Space and Make in Space for Use Back on Earth.

The Make in Space for Use in Space is for developing materials like concrete or its analogues using regolith etc. Material available on planets, and curing with deficient amounts of water or its analogues. It is to develop a robotic drilling system remotely commanded from earth or orbiters and working in an intelligent self-correcting way to deal with unknown subsurface soil encountered without breaking drills or changing drills.

It also includes research supporting the possibility of extracting valuable elements such as copper and other rare earth elements from used electronics to be recycled for future use.

The Make on Earth for Use in Space includes further advancement in 3D printing of metals like titanium and aluminium alloys, composites (CFRP) and refractory materials like tungsten, molybdenum, and tantalum for high-performance applications in space engineering. It also supports collaborative robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

An Integrated electronic system aimed to design “universal, series, modular” and allow a high level of integration, scalable processing performance, and a high degree of customisation.

The Make in Space for Use Back on Earth is to identify suitable materials like silicon-based fibres, semiconductor, and carbon nanomaterials and their test on earth under low gravity conditions. It is about developing scalable 3D bioprinters for organ printing and manufacturing systems to make protein crystals, pharmaceutical drugs, etc., in LEO and building manufacturing processes that enable the recycling of materials.

The scientific and business collaboration is supported by the released WhitenPaper titled 'Space Technology' by Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, on 25 January 2023, wherein key stakeholders in India, the United States, Indo-Pacific and other countries can support the space industry.