'Everybody Wants To Beat Him, But...': ISRO Chief's Praise For SpaceX's Elon Musk At IIT Event

New Delhi: ISRO chief S Somanath on Saturday praised Space X founder Elon Musk for bringing innovation in the space sector and for inspiring everyone with Starship booster 'chopsticks' maneuver aimed to improve the booster's reusability by avoiding ocean landings and reducing costs and turnaround time. It is because of him that the space is becoming very attractive today, he said.SpaceX made spaceflight history earlier this month as it used mechanical 'chopsticks' to grab Starship's huge booster, known as Super Heavy, mid-air after separation from the rocket. This novel approach improves the booster's reusability by avoiding ocean landings and reducing costs and turnaround time."...The person there in the US, Elon Musk, is making, heads turn with the type of rockets that he has captured with the chopsticks recently and people are asking when ISRO is going to do this... Everyone is looking at Elon Musk, what he is doing there and how we can come up with some fantastic idea that we can beat him. Of course, everybody wants to beat him, but he is above all of that. I think he is such a great man doing fantastic work. We are all inspired by this work," S Somanath said at an event at IIT Delhi. "It is because of this that the space is becoming very attractive today. Young people are looking at it with great passion. We are looking at it in a manner in which the technology is becoming accessible to people... The application domain is growing. Also, its impact on the economy, employability, and job creation is growing. These domains are very important and that's why the government has recently taken the initiative to open up the space sector, bringing in more private investment and private participation. It's a domain that cannot be kept controlled and regulated. Of course, there is some knowledge that needs to be controlled and regulated, but the application domains, doing work, creating value in this have to get out of those vaults that have been covering the space systems," he further said.

#WATCH | At IIT Delhi, ISRO chief S Somanath says, "...The person there in the US, Elon Musk, is making, heads turn with the type of rockets that he has captured with the chopsticks recently and people are asking when ISRO is going to do this... Everyone is looking at Elon Musk,… pic.twitter.com/g4Yc2ZvAQ6

— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2024

On October 13, Elon Musk's SpaceX pushed the boundaries of engineering a little further by pulling off an unprecedented maneuver whereby the company managed to "catch" the rocket’s huge booster stage as it came back down to land using what are essentially giant metal chopsticks attached to the launch tower, a structure SpaceX calls Mechazilla.Maneuver Could Be A 'Huge Leap' For Space ExplorationThe maneuver marks a step forward in SpaceX’s mission to reutilize rockets, making space travel cheaper, more sustainable, and quicker. If the company succeeds, the moon could become a regular destination for scientific research. CNN called the vision "bold".With the successful first landing, SpaceX is likely to attempt even more ambitious operations, like refueling Starship while it's stationed in orbit to prepare it to travel toward the moon.