Larsen & Toubro, Godrej, HAL, and ISRO have reached an agreement to form a consortium to privately build and launch PSLV rockets:http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/l-t-godrej-hal-isro-to-sign-pact-to-build-pslv-rockets-117103000030_1.htmlIt feels like India's version of United Launch Alliance is being born
Hopefully it lowers cost. In the US it has done the exact opposite, just look at the SLS and Atlas V......
ISRO plans to increase it's launch cadence from 9-10 to 18-19 per year.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/isro-plans-to-scale-up-outsourcing-double-satellite-launches/articleshow/61554301.cms
ISRO is aiming for 24 launches a year by 2020 so the increase in domestic payload development makes sense. They should fully outsource the PSLV and focus on getting commercial payloads for MK-2 and Mk-3.
India plans to visit the moon a third time and also return, with Japan for company this time.Their lander and rover mission will bring samples back from moon, the chiefs of the two space agencies said on Friday.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have started to work out the contours of their joint trip — which will be the third for both countries. They did not say when it would be sent.The plans are in the early stages: ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, A.S.Kiran Kumar, and JAXA president Naoki Okumura said the ‘implementation arrangements’ are likely be reached in a couple of months. The pre-phase studies to decide the scope of work — or the focus of the mission — should be clear in the next six months.They were addressing a news conference in connection with the annual Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum APRSAF-24 which met here over the last four days.Dr. Okamura said that with this collaboration, “India and Japan will lead the space sector in the Asia Pacific region. We hope we can do it as soon as possible. It is not easy as we are understanding each other’s [goals and capabilities].”
Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar on Friday announced a Indo-Japanese joint lunar mission.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of 24th Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), he said that India and Japan have decided to take up a joint lunar mission."We've just now decided to work together in this regard. We will discuss modalities and clarity would emerge in about six months," he said.Kiran Kumar clarified that there would not be any participation from other countries in the mission."We want to study traces of water which Isro established on the soil of the moon. We want to take some samples, bring them to earth for further studies," he said.
New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation chief AS Kiran Kumar on Friday said that both India and Japan are working towards a joint lunar mission, which will hopefully take place soon."We are looking at a possible joint lunar mission which is still in a very preliminary stage. We are working on the details at the moment," state-run ISRO's Chairman told media persons here.
India and Japan will collaborate to send a joint mission to the moon, which includes landing a rover and bringing samples back to the earth, a feat that was last achieved over four decades ago. Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Naoki Okumara said on Friday that an implementation agreement for the collaborative mission will be finalised within the next two months. "We can do as soon as possible," said Okumara on timelines, but did not elaborate much. Both the countries have increased cooperation due to efforts made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. The space agencies plan follows the November 2016 agreement signed during PM Modi's visit to Japan, where they agreed on collaborating for deep space explorations.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to hand over the entire gamut of launch vehicle manufacture to domestic industry by 2020."Until now, public and private industries have only supplied devices, components and sub-systems for ISRO's launch vehicles, including the PSLV and the GSLV. Our effort is to give a push to industry for production of end-to-end systems. By 2020, we hope to have the first completely industry-built PSLV," Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director K. Sivan said here on Friday.
ISRO already has a partnership with private industry to produce satellites. The IRNSS-1H communication satellite aboard the ill-fated PSLV C-39 was the first to be produced by a consortium of six companies.Dr. Sivan said ISRO had a partnership with about 500 domestic industries for the supply of various components and devices. “About 80% of the cost of launch vehicles and 40% of satellites are handled by these industries”.
He stressed on the need for industry to reduce the manufacturing and material cost without compromising on quality to bring down the launch cost. ISRO, he said, had tightened tolerance to error following the failure of the PSLV- C39 mission.
In a development that will revolutionalise the satellite launch system in the country, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is developing a small launch vehicle that can be assembled in just three days as compared to 30-40 days for a normal-sized PSLV and can be built at a cost which will be just one-tenth the original manufacturing cost of a PSLV. The manufacturing cost of a launch vehicle is generally in the range of Rs 150 crore to Rs 500 crore across the world.
Dr K Sivan, director of Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC),on the sidelines of an international seminar on 'Indian Space Programme' told TOI, "Isro is busy developing a small launch vehicle which is likely to be ready for launch probably by 2018-end or early-2019. The cost of this vehicle will get drastically reduced by one-tenth of the manufacturing cost of a normal PSLV. However, this rocket will have the total payload capacity of 500 to 700 kg and can launch satellites only up to the polar sun-synchronous orbit or near-earth orbit (500-700 km in altitude).""The weight of this mini-PSLV will be just 100 tonnes as compared to 300 tonnes of the normal-sized launch vehicle," Dr Sivan said.
Explaining the advantage, Dr K Sivan said, "The amount of money used in building a normal-size PSLV rocket can actually be used to manufacture multiple numbers of such mini-PSLVs, which, in turn, can launch several satellites. So, Isro will be able to launch several satellites in less money." Like a normal PSLV, he said, "Such small vehicles will too be capable of launching multiple nano satellites."
Sounds like it's some barebones simplified rocket, that's meant to save on cost and assembly effort.