PEOPLE AND THEIR PROBLEMS

New Delhi, 23 December 2005

New Window For India

MASSIVE GLOBAL SPACE MARKET

By Radhakrishna Rao

As part of the strategic partnership initiative, Washington has hinted at allowing Indian space launchers to orbit not only the spacecraft built in the US but also satellites built elsewhere which carry the American made components.  Because of the sanction, the US has all along been denying export licence for the satellites falling under these categories for launching from the Indian soil on commercial terms. 

For the Bangalore-based Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian space programme, this US move could open up a new window of opportunities for promoting the Indian launch capability in the multi-billion dollar global space market.

Of course, Antrix had made modest forays in the fast booming market for launching satellites into low earth and middle earth orbits.  In a significant development, the Corporation has bagged a US $10-million contract to launch the Italian-built Agile satellite by means of India’s highly successful four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) some time next year. 

As it is, the PSLV featuring alternate liquid and solid fuel stages was developed essentially to serve as the workhorse for launching India’s IRS series of earth observation satellite, was subsequently promoted as a cost efficient space booster for launching lightweight piggyback payloads on commercial basis. 

During its May 1999 flight, the PSLV launched three satellites simultaneously – India’s 1050-kg IRS P4 ocean watch satellite, South Korea’s 107-kg Kitsat payload and Germany’s 45-kg Tubsat probe. This was for the first time that an Indian space vehicle successfully orbited three satellites in one shot.  The triple launch heralded the entry of PSLV into the global commercial arena.

The October 2001 flight of PSLV, the fifth consecutive successful flight and the second commercial mission, also placed three satellites in their specified orbit: The Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of India, Germany’s Bird and Belgium Proba space probes.

Antrix has also bagged an order from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for launching its micro remote sensing satellite X-sat as a piggyback payload on board PSLV. Similarly, Antrix has entered into an agreement with Indonesia’s Aerospace Electronics Technology Centre (LAPAN) for launching the Lapan-Tubsat by means of PSLV. “We are only a few steps away from becoming one of the most capable members of the space club”, says G. Madhvan Nair, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

As things stand now, Antrix is also looking ahead to market the services of India’s most advanced three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which has been developed to help India acquire the capability of launching INSAT class domestic spacecraft. A fully Indian made upper cryogenic engine stage which will soon replaced the Russian supplied upper stage of the GSLV would enable the vehicle to launch 2.5-tonne class satellites.

Further into the future with an eye on consolidating its position in the global market for launching heavy class satellites, GLSV-MK-III, an augmented version of the GSLV, will join the stable of the Indian launch vehicles. Expected to take off sometime during the second-half of this decade, GSLV MK-III will be capable of placing a 4-tonne class satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. According to Nair, with GSLV-MK-III in place, it would be possible for Indian to offer launch services at a highly competitive price.

India which has made impressive strides in design, development and fabrication of state- of-the-art satellites for applications such as communications and broadcasting, weather watch and resources mapping is now preparing the ground for entering the highly competitive market for the custom built satellites. Antrix has already been in the business of supplying components and hardware to the satellite fabricators in USA, West Europe and Japan.

Not surprisingly then with a view to tap the global market for communications satellites, Antrix has signed an MOU with the Europe’s space and defence major EADS Astrium to jointly address the commercial market for communications satellites with payload power below 4 kw and weighing around 2-3 tonnes. Satellites in this range represent a sizeable and stable part of the market.

On another front, Antrix is also exploring a tie-up with Boeing of US for jointly building and marketing communications satellites similar to India’s INSAT space system.  “The spacecraft could be similar to India’s domestic INSAT satellite system with around 20 transponders” says Nair.

If the deal with Boeing fructifies, Boeing would supply the satellite payloads which will be integrated at ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bangalore. Clearly and apparently, Boeing stands to gain substantially by outsourcing the production of 2-3 tonnes class satellite to India. For ISRO boasts of the world class satellite production as well as pool of highly skilled and experienced manpower.

On another front, Antrix has entered into a joint venture agreement with Measat International Ltd. (MISAL) of Malaysia to develop satellites services centring round India’s INSAT and Malaysia’s Measat space system.  The joint venture company will leverage INSAT and MEASAT system capabilities to provide commercial satellite services across the entire Asia Pacific belt.

By pooling the satellite capability available from INSAT and MEASAT systems, the company is planning to significantly the ability to service satellite communications and broadcasting customers across India, Malaysia and regional markets. The MEASAT has also expressed interest in procuring a Measat-4 satellite from Antrix.

Antrix has also been successful in promoting the sale of high quality of imageries derives from India’s IRS series of earth observation satellites to the global customers through partnership with US based Space Imaging.  A number of ground stations around the world today receive data direct from IRS constellation of satellites.  It is a tribute to the excellence India has achieved in the area of satellite remote sensing that the IRS resources data today account for one fifth of the total global market for satellite resources data. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)