ISRO chief S Somanath on Friday said there is potential for India to invest and work in microgravity research and added the space agency is talking to many stakeholders who are interested to work in this domain, including vaccine developers.

Speaking at the Raksha Summit 2024 here, Somanath said there is huge interest in working on medical research connected with space and microgravity.

There is going to be huge potential of research in the coming days, he said.

"There is potential for India to invest and work in microgravity research in the coming days. We are talking to many of the stakeholders who are interested in working in this domain, including vaccine researchers and medical diagnostic equipment manufacturers," Somanath said.

He said the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Space have signed an MoU for biotechnology research into space which could be helpful in its human space flight project Gaganyaan.

This will help in better understanding how the body reacts in microgravity, especially body fluids, he said.

There is an issue with the equipment used in hospitals that are not built in India, he pointed out.

Many of them have technologies that are amenable to be designed and developed in this country, he said, and asked why these things are not being built in large numbers in India.

When ISRO began building rockets and satellites, it started buying components and elements from various sources and started assembling them in the country. Over a period of time it was able to work with the industry, convert many of the components as local produce like electronic parts, alloys, materials, connectors, chemicals, adhesives. Today 90 per cent are sourced from this country, he said.

The ecosystem now feeds high technology domains like defence and aerospace.

"Similar exercise needs to be done in healthcare and diagnostic and hospital equipment. They can be designed and built in large numbers to supply to markets existing in the country," he said.

He said the companies can tie up with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and then bring manufacturing into this country. Better innovation and cost reduction can be done in the country, he said.

There is huge interest in working on medical research and connected with space and microgravity. This is going to be a huge potential of research in coming days, he said.

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