DNA Edit: The sky is the limit? Not for the ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) latest feat of sending a record 104 satellites to space is a proud moment for the country. These included 101 nano satellites, of which 96 were from the US and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, together weighing over 600 kilograms. The gravity of the achievement was best conveyed by former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan who highlighted the dynamics involved in ensuring a ‘precise operation’ where the 104 satellites move out without touching each other. “Through these kind of things from the engineering point of view and from the mathematical point of view, we are telling the world that we are as good as anybody,” said Dr. Kasturirangan, in unabashed praise of scientists at India’s space agency. 

Over the years, the ISRO’s performance has been seen as an outlier amid the galling failure to develop a robust indigenous defence research and production industry. The ISRO, even while perfecting the art of operating under shoestring budgets and reuse and reengineering of extant technologies, has also succeeded in spawning a private sector that is increasingly being able to supply critical components. Almost two-third of the parts that went into fabricating the ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission, also known as Mangalyaan, was sourced from private companies like Larsen & Toubro and Godrej. The ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix, is today poised to corner a larger share of the $300-billion global space industry, thanks to the competitive prices it offers and an excellent launch record.

With the GSLV Mark-III rocket nearing completion with the successful testing of the indigenously developed cryogenic engine on January 25, the ISRO will soon be in a position to carry much heavier payloads. Unlike the PSLV, which can carry only small and medium-sized satellites, the cryogenic rocket stage used in the GSLVs provides greater thrust for every kilogram of propellant it burns, and will allow the GSLV Mark-II and Mark-III to carry payloads (satellites) of around two tonnes and four tonnes respectively. In May 2016, the ISRO achieved another milestone with the successful launch of the Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator. The reusable vehicle will enable the ISRO to save nearly 80 per cent of mission costs in future. But the RLVs will be operationalised only by 2030. In contrast, the US retired the last of its reusable space shuttles in 2011 after conducting 133 successful launches. But this may not be a fair comparison.

For decades, India’s space research activities were hobbled by poor funding and just when it was ready to take off in the 1990s, it was hobbled by international sanctions. Even in 2016, the NASA received federal funding to the tune of $19 billion against the $1.1 billion budget outlay for the ISRO. The agency has set itself some stiff targets for the coming months and years. There is an ambitious plan to build India’s heaviest rocket that can carry 10-tonne satellites using semi-cryogenic engines and have rocket launches every month with progressively increasing satellite capacity. Another lunar mission, Chandrayan-II, consisting of an orbiter, lander and rover is in the works. The ISRO’s giant leaps is an inspiration for all of India.