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kcmandava
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 Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:52 am Post subject: Global Launch Countdown Begins |
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| Quote: | Global launch countdown begins
Having developed the satellite launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV, Indian Space Research Organisation is looking to capture 10% of the $2 billion global launch market.
Notwithstanding Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) achievements to date, the space research organisation is an occasionally noticed, inadequately celebrated silent engine of the country's prowess in space research. The space agency’s contribution to India's socio-economic development has been immense—It has modernised India's work with eather, forestry, flood control, agriculture, mining, oil prospecting, archeology, mapping, education, healthcare, communications, transport, water resources, oceanography, and disaster management.
Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO, is now competing with France and US in the international market for images obtained from space. And with constantly improving quality of its images, Antrix is closing in. After spending the early years getting scientists, engineers, vendors and fabrication facilities together, ISRO was ready with its own Apple satellite by 1981.
From that point on, progress has been steady and on two fronts. On the one, India began to design two kinds of satellites: the INSAT series for communications and the IRS for remote sensing. On the other hand, satellite launching vehicles have been evolving in sophistication and ability. India progressed from solid propelled to liquid propelled rockets. It is now developing cryogenic engines for rockets — the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) that can launch geo-synchronous satellites for communications.
Antrix is organising the launch of the 360 kg (790lb) Agile spacecraft, which will use a gamma ray imaging detector to conduct astronomical observations. The launch will be the first commercial flight of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) involving a solitary satellite. Previously, the PSLV has launched lightweight satellites for Belgium, Germany and South Korea on commercial terms as piggyback payloads.
According to senior ISRO officials, Antrix has a series of payload contracts including a micro remote-sensing satellite for Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and Lapan Tubsat's spacecraft for Indonesia's Aerospace Electronics Technology Centre. Both will be piggyback payloads aboard the PSLV. Italy's Carlo Gavazzi Space-built Agile satellite is expected to be launched into a 550 km (340 miles) orbit by May this year using India's four-stage PSLV C-8 from Sriharikota spaceport.
According to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair, “It will be a great opportunity for us if we can capture at least 10% of the launch business, worth $2 billion in the international market”. It seems that GSLV-MK-III for putting a 4 tonne INSAT satellite in orbit is going to be launched in 2007-8. With that launch India will get most of their commercial lift requirements met by indigenous launchers from 2010 onwards.
Mr Nair says, with GSLV-MK-III in place, it would be possible for India to offer launch services at a highly competitive price. Having 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, India is now preparing the ground for entering the highly competitive market for the custom built satellites.
Department of Space (DOS) and ISRO are implementing a satellite-based augmentation system called GAGAN jointly with the Airports Authority of India. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), which is under approval cycle, when implemented is expected to provide position accuracies similar to GPS in a region centered around India with a coverage extending upto 1500 km from India.
ISRO and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will also contribute to development of Russia's next-generation Glonass-K series of navigation satellites, as part of the agreement India has signed with Moscow last year. The agreement also envisages cooperation on launching Glonass-M and Glonass-K satellites using Russian and Indian launch vehicles. Indian armed forces would be allowed access to the Glonass satellite network, which was conceived by the Russian defense forces in the 1980s, but is expected to be fully operational by 2007.
Also, on the agenda of ISRO is Small Satellites for Atmospheric and Space Sciences mission. This involves small satellites monitoring the Earth's troposphere and stratosphere. Of interest are aerosol phenomena, forest fires, ozone, water vapour, soil moisture and sea surface salinity in the South-East Asia region.
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 US made components. For 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.
As things stand now, Antrix is also looking ahead to market the services of India's most advanced three-stage 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 that will soon replace the Russian supplied upper stage of the GSLV would enable the vehicle to launch 2.5-tonne class satellites.
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 communi- cations 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. Sources say, if the deal with Boeing fructifies, Boeing would supply the satellite payloads that will be integrated at ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore. |
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=114588
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Last edited by kcmandava on Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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andrew247
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| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:56 am Post subject: |
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Good luck to the Indian Space Research Organisation. 
P.S. You left the Google Ads in the middle of the post lol 
Thanks Andrew. I edited my post to remove them.
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