Article Posted on : - Jan 03, 2012

SRIHARIKOTA (PTI): President Pratibha Patil Monday said the country looks forward to the success of the indigenous cryogenic stage on board the GSLV rocket, likely to be launched in the second quarter of this year.

"The entire country is looking forward to the successful flight testing by ISRO of the indigenous cryogenic stage on-board GSLV," she said inaugurating the Mission Control Centre and Launch Centre at Sathish Dhawan Space Centre here.

The space agency had suffered a setback when Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), launched using a home-grown cryogenic engine for the first time, failed and fell into the Bay of Bengal in April 2010.

"It is heartening that the Indian space programme is entirely indigenous and has made much progress and achieved much since its inception," she said.

Patil said every launch brought excitement and anxious moments to mission controllers and to every Indian and "this new complex will be a witness to all these emotions in the future too."

The President said India felt proud with the success of the country's moon mission, Chandrayaan-I and the "remarkable discovery" it made about presence of water molecules on the lunar surface. She also lauded the scientists for the various successes in the Indian space programme.

A lot had been achieved and a lot more had to be done, she said, adding India looked up to this team of "unflinching commitment, untiring energy and professional excellence."

"Today, we are at the threshold of advancements in our ambitious space programmes. There is hope and promise; optimism and potential; there are avenues that reckon us to celebrate mankind's victory over gravitation and excel in understanding the mysteries of our limitless universe," she said.

Patil emphasised the need for space applications for public use, calling for developing tele-agriculture to cater to farmers' needs.

In areas including climate change, weather prediction and disaster occurrence, the role of space technology is crucial, she said.

Earlier, ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, made a brief presentation on the Indian space programme to the President.

Patil also interacted with senior scientists and witnessed the simulation of a PSLV launch in the control centre.

The President visited the First Launch Pad to witness the assembly activities of PSLV-C19, scheduled for launch in the coming months, an ISRO release said.