Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Not fat; lean and mean” (June 7). It is indeed a matter of deep satisfaction that the GSlV-Mark III, which was nicknamed ‘fat boy’ by the space scientists and ‘Bahubali’ by the Telugu media, has been successfully launched. Weighing 640 tonnes, it is the heaviest rocket made by India till date.
India has indeed shown to the world that its space programme is cost-effective and that this country can plan its future inter-planetary missions like Chandrayaan-II or Mangalyaan II to the Moon and Mars without thinking too much. It is now time to seriously think of a manned mission to space, the only segment in space science in which China has an advantage over India. One major fallout of the Indian space programme would be that the highly advanced GSAT-19 will make Internet speed in India as fast as that in any developed country.