Have the U.S. sanctions, in the aftermath of the nuclear tests, hit ISRO?
Sanctions have become a real-life problem for ISRO. We have learnt to live with it, in a sense. If one has to understand it, one has to look at the totality of work that goes on (in ISRO) in terms of indigenising many areas of space requirements such as components and materials. They (the sanctions) make designs more flexible. It is not the problem of producing these materials and components. It is a question of economics. When the requirements are small and one cannot produce them on a scale that is economically viable, one has to depend on outside help. What is the progress in building cryogenic stages for the Geo-Stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle? We are in the process of assembling the engines. The first step is the engines. This itself is a very complicated exercise and we also have to develop critical components related to this for the thrust chamber, turbo-pumps and so on. We are working on all these in a parallel manner. The first step in evaluating the design should start th
