Giving away the space business to a private player is a huge deal. So how do we weigh the pros and cons of the entire idea? ISRO chief explained how the rest of the world is shifting towards this trend. “This is the trend globally and we should not be left behind. If you look at the current scenario and compare it with just five years, the environment in the country vis a vis awareness and interest about space programs have seen a drastic change.” He revealed that the private space firms have shown interest in the Indian space programs while a few of them have even shown interest in their own PSLVs.
To facilitate this, spread over 25 acres in Bengaluru, ISRO built a space technology park where the infrastructure and entire range of facilities have been set up for use.
Satellite lessons for firmsG.S. MudurNew Delhi: India's space agency has offered to handhold industries through building satellites and launching vehicles on their own, space officials said on Monday.They said this would be critical to meeting India's anticipated demand for about 18 new satellites annually over the next five years, and to increasing the number of launches from six during 2016-17 to 14 during 2022-23.The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) intends to help industries that are already supplying myriad sub-systems and components for satellites and launch vehicles learn to assemble and integrate full space-ready systems.It has already invited industries to participate in the assembly and integration of 30 new satellites within the next three years.Under the plan, Isro will share with industry engineers the expertise and knowledge demanded by these tasks, either on Isro premises or at the industries' own sites."Our own capability is about nine or ten satellites a year, so we're hoping industries develop the capability to meet the country's demands," Mylswamy Annadurai, director of the Isro satellite centre, told The Telegraph.Space officials say the rising demand for satellites and launches owes to the expansion of satellite applications to fields ranging from town planning and watershed management to geo-tagging of assets created under the rural job scheme.Indian private and public-sector industries have been supplying subsystems and components to Isro for more than 25 years. But Isro itself has carried out the assembly and integration."But we're now reaching a saturation point under this mode of decentralised industry participation (with) assembly and integration only by Isro," said P. Kunhikrishnan, director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India's spaceport on Sriharikota island."We want to see a launch vehicle move directly from industry to our spaceport," he said, speaking at the conference, organised by industry chamber Ficci, Isro and Antrix, the space agency's commercial arm.Industry executives welcomed the Isro offer. "This is a unique opportunity. Our engineers can learn new, sophisticated skills from masters; we can acquire that knowledge to help the domestic programme and take on similar assignments for foreign markets," said H.S. Shankar, managing director of Alpha Design Technologies. The Bangalore-based company has already participated in the assembly and integration of two Isro satellites on a trial basis.Space officials say the entry of industry into assembly and integration will allow Isro's own scientists more time for advanced research and development and strategic planning.
Glavkosmos, which specialises in rocket and satellite solutions, has said it would be ready for global launch before the end of next year. "It will also find its way to India soon,” said Vitaly Safonov, general director deputy, Glavkosmos. "I think we will come to it, because in a globalised world, co-operation between countries is also important".
A senior VSSC official told Manorama Online that the project aims to provide the ecosystem for companies which are interested in joining the space efforts. “No investment will be made by the ISRO in the project. But the companies opening units in the park will get expert advice from the organization. Moreover, we will ensure that the companies have the right environment for functioning. If the companies are interested, ISRO will also purchase their products,” he said.
As several organizations dealing with aerospace, including VSSC, are already functioning in Kerala, the park will be a big success, feels the state government.
Alpha Design Technologies plans to raise 300-400 Crore in its IPO, half of which will go into R&D, with the rest invested in critical infrastructure. They recently built an IRNSS satellite for ISRO.http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/satellite-maker-alpha-design-to-go-public-in-six-months-117112101344_1.html
I believe they assembled, Integrated and tested the satellite rather than building it.
Quote from: demonslayer on 04/18/2018 03:49 pmI believe they assembled, Integrated and tested the satellite rather than building it.Pardon, but what's the distinction between Assembly-Integration-Testing vs building something?
Thanks, Sanman, for starting up and maintaining this thread.What's the legal and political regime like for private spaceflight in India?Can a small private company that does something related to space freely fly their cubesat or smallsat to orbit without undue bureaucracy holding them back?