NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan on Thursday said the private sector can also be part of its inter-planetary missions. The private sector will now be allowed to carry out space activities like building of rockets, satellites and providing launch services, he said.

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved participation of the private sector in the entire range of space activities, including planetary exploration missions.

Sivan, however, added that ISRO's activities are not going to reduce and it will continue to carry our space-based activities including advanced research and development, inter-planetary and human space flight missions.

On Wednesday, Sivan said that ten space missions being prepared for launch this year have been “disturbed” due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown besides delay in the human space and Moon missions.

The ISRO chief added that the space agency had planned 10 launches, including Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-3. It will make an assessment of the impact of the lockdown on its missions, he said.

ISRO is dependent on the private sector for manufacturing equipment for its launch. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which provide equipment to the ISRO are among the worst-hit due to the lockdown, coupled with migration of labourers, a news daily reported.

After the hard landing of Chandrayaan-2 last year, ISRO had planned to launch Chandrayaan-3, which was scheduled to be launched later this year.

Gaganyaan, the human space mission, envisages to send three Indians to space by 2022. The four test pilots selected for this mission are currently undergoing training in Russia, but even that was impacted due to COVID-19 lockdown in the country.