Page 10 - PARIS AIRSHOW 2023 INSIGHT | GBP

satellites and the entire infrastructure for the same. Today we
are taking a lot of support from Indian industry and much of the
manufacturing which we used to do in-house has been moved
out. When it comes to our satellites, 50 percent is contributed
by Indian industry,” Somnath said.

Somnath said the growing role of the nation’s industry in the
Indian space sector has enabled ISRO to accelerate the numbers
of launches and satellites it is able to place into orbit. He said
in the 80s-90s, ISRO used launch only rocket and was able to
manufacture only a few satellites annually. Today, however, ISRO
is building 8-9 satellites and launching 8-9 rockets every year,
despite not having increased its manpower, and he attributed this
increase in capacity to greater participation of Indian industry.
“We have enabled this change at ISRO with a very careful pro-
cess of moving out work packages to Indian industry,” Somnath
stressed.
Commenting on ISRO plans for this year, Somnath said that
ISRO’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was
getting ready for two commercial launches. He added that the
new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV MkII), would further
increase ISRO’s share of the global satellite launch market. ISRO
is now getting ready to launch its follow-on mission to the moon
with Chandrayaan-3, which is due to launch in mid-July.
V Somnath In the last nine years, ISRO has launched 389 foreign satellites
ISRO Chairman earning US$174 million in revenue. Till date, ISRO has launched
a total of 424 foreign satellites. In April, ISRO launched a record
ISRO is developing indigenous technologies 104 satellites aboard PSLV-C37 from the Satish Dhawan Space
for a human rated launch vehicle, habitable Center at Sriharikota, signifying India’s increasing presence in
crew module, life support system, crew escape the global space industry. 101 of the 104 satellites belonged to
system, ground station network, crew training international customers.
and recovery and much of this work is being ISRO has launched over 100 satellites so far and has built strong
performed by the Indian space agency for the in-house satellite building capabilities for GSAT, Earth Observation
first time. ISRO partnered with Glavkosmos Satellites and Space based Satellite Navigation Systems. ISRO’s
(the foreign economic activities division of INSAT communication satellites and IRS remote sensing satel-
Russia’s Roscosmos Space State Corporation) lites are catering to the increasing demand for fast and reliable
in June 2019 for assistance on selection sup- communication and earth observation respectively.
port, medical examination and space training
of the four selected Indian cosmonauts for the
Gaganyaan mission. Glavkosmos is also sup- Small Satellite Launch Vehicle
plying systems and components of the Soyuz ISRO is now developing a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to
spacecraft to ISRO, which will adapt and provide low-cost access to Space. The SSLV will cater for launch
modify these items for use in the Gaganyaan of satellites up to 500 kg to Low Earth Orbits on a ‘launch-on-
mission. demand’ basis. It is also capable of launching Mini, Micro, or
Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to a 500 km planar orbit. The
Growing Aspirations SSLV will provide ISRO with a low turn-around time launcher with
minimal launch infrastructure requirements and offer flexibility
ISRO is now looking to transition to a Research in accommodating multiple satellites.
& Development (R&D) agency, with a greater
share of the manufacturing, launch and oper- The second developmental flight SSLV-D2 was successfully
ations for space missions being undertaken launched in February 10, 2023 and injected EOS-07, Janus-1
by Indian industry and international partners. and AzaadiSAT-2 satellites into their intended 450 km circular
“ISRO is moving towards becoming an R&D orbit. The 156 kg EOS-07 satellite was designed, developed and
organisation, which was in-fact the original realized by ISRO, while the 10 kg Janus-1 satellite belonged to
intent of creating ISRO. Since space infra- ANTARIS, USA and the 8.7 kg AzaadiSAT-2 satellite was the com-
structure did not exist at the time of ISRO’s bined effort of about 750 girl students across India guided by
creation, we took up development of rockets, Space Kidz India, Chennai.

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