India's space aspirations unruffled by failure

Happier days: the GLSV on its first development flight in 2001.

India’s space programme was dealt a blow on Monday when the country’s first bid to launch a functional communication satellite using a home-grown rocket failed soon after lift off, as the rocket disintegrated.  But it’s not a showstopper – and in fact, is likely to spur even more investment in what has become one of one of the world’s hottest space programmes.

The rocket that failed, the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), had previously launched three experimental satellites without a hitch. Monday’s failed mission was carrying a 2-tonne INSAT communications satellite, and the stakes were high as it was billed as ISRO’s first-step into the global satellite launch market, and in particular launching heavier communication satellites for third parties.

ISRO’s aspirations are not as dented as they might have beeen, because it has another rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has shown itself to be a workhorse, launching several of India’s remote sensing satellites, and satellites from other countries including Germany, South Korea, and Belgium. The launch of another – Indonesian - satellite is scheduled for later this year.

Certainly, the Indian Space Research Organisation vowed to move forward. “This will not affect any of our space programmes,” said G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO minutes after the unsuccessful flight. Noting the failure followed 12 successful launches, Nair was quick to add that, “ISRO would ensure highest quality and reliability” in all its programmes and the next satellite launch would be speeded up.

Others involved in the programme agreed. “I think there is enough demand for PSLV in near future, particularly with many countries initiating exploratory missions to other planets,” said K.R. Sridhara Murthy, executive director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial and export wing of ISRO.

He added, “But GSLV needs to go through more tests before it can enter the global commercial market.”

Exploring commercial opportunities

India’s space programme is largely geared to domestic needs and as Murthy says, hardly 20 per cent of ISRO’s capacity is used for commercial purposes. But with proven platforms, both in satellites (IRS and INSAT) and rockets (PSLV and hopefully GSLV in not too distant future), Antrix Corporation, with 2005-06 revenue touching $88 million, is expanding its business borders.

The services on offer include building and launching satellites and the sale of data from its large network of remote sensing satellites in orbit.

In common with India’s progress in building high tech sectors in information technology and biosciences,  cost-effectiveness is of course one of the trump cards of the Indian space agency.

“Given the lower cost of infrastructure and manpower, ISRO will be competitive even at a marginally lower price point,” says Alok Shende, Director of Information and Communication Technology, at the Mumbai practice of market analysts Frost & Sullivan. While some ISRO officials put the cost at “30 per cent lower”, Murthy doesn’t want to state a precise figure as it varies with the particular service provided. “We will be very competitive if there are no market distortions. A lot of dumping happens in the global market,” he adds.

One international collaboration that ISRO/Antrix has today is with Paris-based EADS Astrium. The duo recently bagged a contract from Paris-based satellite communications operator Eutelsat to build a communication satellite in 26 months. While EADS will provide the payload, ISRO will build the satellite at its Bangalore satellite centre.

This Eutelsat contract could be a springboard for India to enter the international market as it is the first time ISRO has built a communication satellite for a third party -  though it has built more than 20 satellites of various types for domestic use.

EADS and ISRO are also building another communication satellite for a UK-based customer Avanti Screenmedia. “The satellite is named HYLAS, after its ability of being highly flexible in services. Its multiple beam antenna will allow a wide range of services, including high definition television and broadband,” Murthy told ScienceBusiness.  

Joint ventures

Meanwhile, in Asia, Antrix has entered into a joint venture agreement with Measat International Ltd of Malaysia to custom-build satellites around India’s INSAT and Malaysia’s Measat space systems. This agreement is meant to leverage the two systems, to serve the Asia Pacific belt.

“We are however still looking for a suitable opportunity to translate this joint venture into action,” notes Murthy. But he admitted that besides sluggish growth, there is cut-throat competition in the global satellite launch market with vendors resorting to unfair “market distortions” to sell their services. However, he is optimistic that the recent spurt in space exploration projects in many countries, including the US, will rev up the market.

Europe’s global positioning system project, Galileo, is also on ISRO’s radar: Antrix has made its ambitions clear to the European Space Agency, saying it is willing to participate in Galileo if there is a meaningful role for the Indian space agency.

Anticipating more international business, and as a safety measure, ISRO has initiated a Commercial Satellite Launch Services Agreement with the US, to ease commercial launches by PSLV and later GSLV. Under the present US satellite export policy, satellites made in the US or from US components need to get clearance under the American ITAR (International Traffic in Arms regulation) before they can be launched from any other country. This obviously delays the launch but ISRO believes the ongoing talks will “facilitate” such launches in future.

Domestic drivers

ISRO’s optimism largely derives as much from expanding domestic needs as from commercial opportunities. According to Shende, the direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast service is poised for  significant growth. Along with the state-owned channel Doordarshan, many other private channels are preparing to provide DTH services that would cater to rural areas that are not served by cable.

“There will be a difference in price, but the difference in value will make DTH a great growth driver for ISRO’s satellite services in India,” says Shende.

Moreover, India already has a serious and successful programme in telemedicine. Since 2001 when the first telemedicine project was tested, ISRO has connected over 75 hospitals and 20 super-specialty hospitals across the country through its INSAT satellites. The steady growth is expected to get further thrust when ISRO launches HealthSat, a satellite dedicated to healthcare services.

Private healthcare service providers also are tapping into telemedicine. They not only beam services across the country, but also to other countries in the region including Pakistan, Kazakhstan and the Middle East.

ISRO has embarked on another ambitious programme to provide an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS). Called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), it is an indigenous project to provide location information to users in the country.

At an ISRO industry meeting in Bangalore last week, ISRO chairman Nair said that IRNSS was needed as the existing GPS was controlled and maintained by the US Department of Defense, while the European navigation system Galileo is not yet operational. “IRNSS will be constellation of eight satellites in the geostationary orbit. We have begun the implementation programme and the first satellite will be ready in three to four years,” Nair said. The total project span is six years.

ISRO is also deploying a satellite-based navigation system for the civil aviation sector in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India called GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation).

Over 400 small, medium and large firms are involved in the Indian space programme, and now ISRO is looking for more participation. According to Nair, there is scope for $220 million of business for the industry every year. “ISRO will depend on the industry for the development of sub-systems and ground systems,” he said.

Lift-off easier than spin-off

If there is one area where ISRO probably could have leveraged its technological expertise and the industry involvement better, it is in commercialising its spin-off technologies. Unlike the European Space Agency, which has transferred several space technologies for non-space use, ISRO only has a few success stories, the most famous being the “Jaipur Foot”, where one of the composite materials developed by ISRO is used to make lightweight foot prostheses.

In another spin-off programme, ISRO is developing an ocean bottom sensor with the Federal Department of Ocean Development. The aim is to detect variations in pressure and use the sensor in a tsunami warning system.

There may be few notable technology transfer examples, but it seems that is not on ISRO’s priority list.“We would like to see more of space technology being used for non-space purposes but internally we do not have human resources for that. We are concentrating more on direct applications and newer programmes,” commented Murthy.

However, others believe this is an extension of industry’s lack of appetite for innovation and product development. “Indian industry does not have enough expertise to take product development through to the international market and locally the market is not ready to adopt quasi-pilot products/ideas,” observes Shende.

Non-space use may wait for enterprising entrepreneurs, but ISRO has its hands full with growing demand on its space services.