FOSTERING R&D AND INNOVATION IN MACHINE TOOLS

To achieve the goal of self-reliance in a wholistic way the Indian space sector needs to play a transformative role in Indian manufacturing, and in this journey to excellence, the machine tool industry needs to work in tandem with the space sector to emerge as a global power of precision machining and tooling, leveraging R&D and innovation.

August 23, 2023, will forever be remembered in the annals of space odyssey, earmarking India as the first nation to successfully soft-land on the south polar region of the moon riding Chandrayaan-3. Vikram Lander’s soft landing on the moon marks India’s scientific and technological prowess and its emergence as a space superpower.

Back when India launched its first rocket on November 21, 1963, from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram, the country had taken its baby steps. Today, with the soft landing on the moon, the launch of foreign satellites through space missions and over 100 startups registering with IN-SPACe, the Indian Space sector has definitively evolved as one of the best in the world.

According to the Government of India data, the Indian Space sector is forecasted to reach US$13 billion by 2025. India and the US recently discussed the possibilities of commercial collaborations in space with larger private participation.

Opportunities abound for MT industry

As the Space industry moves towards launching commercial satellites involving private players and rolls out other planetary missions and manned missions to the moon, new challenges will emerge in the manufacturing of the indigenous parts, components, and equipment segment. These challenges need to be addressed by the Indian Manufacturing industry where the Machine Tool industry would play a seminal role. This would provide immense scope for the Machine Tool industry to explore new business opportunities in the Space and allied sectors, and the opportunity to introduce innovative products and solutions. It is paramount that to become an ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India), the Indian Space sector needs to explore opportunities and work closely with the Indian machine tool manufacturers for solutions that are unique, innovative, customized, and cutting-edge. This demand from an ever-expanding Space sector would trigger the Machine Tool industry to take its technology and production to the next level.

Machines play an important role in the manufacturing of spacecraft and satellites needed for space exploration, aviation, and defence. The Machine Tool industry helps by producing composites, high-precision and complex parts, lightweight parts, propellants, tubes, ducts, sheet metals, etc. It also plays a critical role in producing precision turning and milling machines, hard tuning machines, diamond tuning, laser cutting machines, presses, welding and joining machines, water jet machining, special purpose machines, and the like. Furthermore, the launch vehicle, rocket, casings, nose, cone, tail part, exhaust venturi, etc. are developed through metal forming, joining, and welding processes besides machining. Additive manufacturing technology brings a new dimension to the manufacturing of parts and components during space missions.

With technology transfer as well as the creation of better technologies involving large companies and MSMEs, the
Machine Tool industry can move to the next level and this would percolate to other domains, vastly improving the machine tool and manufacturing sectors.

Summing up, to achieve the goal of self-reliance in a wholistic way the Indian Space sector needs to play a transformative role in Indian manufacturing, and in this journey to excellence, the Machine Tool industry needs to work in tandem with the Space sector to emerge as a global power of precision machining and tooling, leveraging R&D and innovation.