New Delhi, Aug 23: The growth of the Indian space sector is ‘extraordinary’, said President Droupadi Murmu on the occasion of the country’s maiden National Space Day on Friday.

National Space Day is being celebrated across the nation to commemorate the successful landing of the ‘Vikram’ Lander on the surface of the Moon on August 23, last year.

“The progress of India's space sector is extraordinary. Be it a successfully completed Mars mission with limited resources, or the successful launch of more than a hundred satellites at once, we have made many impressive achievements,” the President said while speaking at the celebration at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

She also appreciated the scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the “wonderful journey” and “remarkable achievements” in the space sector “using minimum resources”.

Besides the space sector, “ISRO has also made invaluable contributions to the country's social and economic development”.

President Murmu also highlighted how space exploration, a ‘challenging task” raised human capabilities and also transformed imagination into reality.

“Research conducted to solve the problems during space exploration accelerates the development of science and improves human life. Many sectors have benefited from developments in the space sector, including health and medicine, transportation, security, energy, environment, and information technology,” President Murmu said.

She pointed out that with the opening of the space sector to the private sector, the number of start-ups has increased at a very rapid pace -- from just one to about 300.

This has, in addition to space research progress, “also opened new opportunities to our youth to showcase and hone their talents”.

She also commended Agnikul Cosmos, for successfully launching “a single-piece 3D printed semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket, the first such achievement” in the world.

The President also expressed confidence that India “will make continuous progress in space science and we will continue to set new standards of excellence”.

However, she cautioned “to be prepared for future challenges” like space debris, which “can cause problems for space missions".

The President also lauded India’s move to make all its “space missions debris-free by the year 2030”.

--IANS

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