The Indian Space Research Organisation has done it again. It has made the headlines and broken records. The Bengaluru-based organization launched 20 satellites from the spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Out of the 20 satellites, only three were Indian, the rest were from different countries including the United States and Germany, with one from a Google owned company. If you add this to the fact that just last month, the ISRO launched a mini space shuttle for just one billion rupees, as opposed to ten times or more that other countries spent on their own versions, in the race to make reusable rockets then you know that the Indian organisation is breaking new ground.
But innovations and cost-effective programmes aren’t really new for the organization, which was officially formed in 1969 and headquartered in Bengaluru. For years now, the ISRO has been working on interesting programmes and cutting costs without cutting corners. It launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2015, which is the Indian version of the Global Positioning Satellite. Incidentally, this satellite is accurate up to 20 metres, comparable to any other positioning satellite in the world. There will be more innovations by which the ISRO will set world records.
The 20 satellites in 26 minutes was not a world record, but a new Indian one. However, ISRO did create a world record in 2008, when they launched 10 satellites. Since then the United States has launched 34 (in January 2014) and Russia 37 (in June 2014). What is more important is that countries like the United States, incidentally the 20th country to use India’s services to launch satellites, have their own space programmes, but are willing to pay India to do the same for them.
Most of the 20 satellites launched on June 22 will observe and report about the Earth’s atmosphere, with one aimed at amateur radio operators. What is interesting is that clients had to pay for each slot on the rocket, which translates into good revenue for ISRO. This is a great business model for the space organization, given that the market for putting commercial satellites in space is opening up. With phone, television and other companies looking for newer technologies and more hi-tech communication satellites, India will be competing on a global scale with other countries.
This is where managing costs comes in. But in this regard India is far ahead of its competitors. The mini shuttle was one of the organisation’s low cost programmes. One of ISRO’s biggest achievements came in 2013, when it launched its own Mars Orbiter Mission called Mangalyaan, which is now orbiting Mars and collecting scientific data. This was done at a cost of Rs 450 crore, which translated to 73 million dollars. In contrast, NASA’s Maven Mars mission cost them 671 million dollars.
Recently, ISRO tested shuttles that are capable of taking humans to space, which will put them in a special club of just a handful of nations to achieve this feat. There is also a lunar mission planned for 2017 and a mission to Venus too. This puts India in a unique position. All this trumps up the ISRO when it comes to commercial missions and this translates to more money for the organization and possible innovations that will trickle down to technological innovations for gadgets and other products in our everyday life. So there are more than a few reasons to cheer on the ISRO.
