Coronavirus Outbreak: VSSC, the rocket producing section in ISRO, will make ventilators, oxygen canisters

A section of the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre is going to produce hand sanitisers, oxygen canisters, masks and design easy to operate ventilators. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) looks into the design and development of rockets and space vehicles for ISRO. It has worked on the Rohini and Menaka launchers, SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV and GSLV Mk III families of launch vehicles. It was renamed in honour of Dr Vikram Sarabhai who is often regarded as the Father of the Indian space program. Breathing is difficult for someone infected with coronavirus and they need respiratory support via a ventilator. [caption id=“attachment_8204221” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre is going to design easy to use ventilators. Image credit: Wikipedia[/caption] Currently, in India, 1,024 number of people are infected with the virus and 27 have died from coronavirus. Compared to other countries, these are moderate numbers for a country as big as India. In order to keep the numbers low, the Indian government has launched a two-pronged attack - the country has been put under lockdown and they are also encouraging the production of better healthcare facilities. The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has predicted that India may need thousands of ventilators if the coronavirus scenario worsens. The Print reported that the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) has contacted seven of the nine major manufacturers, who have confirmed that the current production capacity is 5,500-5,750 pieces per month. The production last month was approximately 2,700 pieces. “We are designing ventilators that are different from what is already there. We are designing ventilators that can be operated in a simple manner and when power supply is not there,” S. Somanath, Director told IANS. VSSC will only design these ventilators and the manufacturing will be done by the industries. Somanath also told IANS, “We are making sanitisers for captive and also for use of others. We have made over 1,000 litres. Similarly, masks are made by employee societies.” Manufacturing of rockets has been put on hold for now at the VSSC. With input from agencies