AIR Spotlight: Strides in the Space Sector

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. This article is about the discussion on Strides in the Space Sector.

Participants: 

1. Pallava Bagla, Science Communicator
2. Chetan Chouhan, Journalist

Context: Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched 36 OneWeb satellites using its heaviest rocket – Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3 or GSLV Mk-3).

Introduction: 

• The LVM3-M2/OneWeb India-1, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR at Sriharikota.
• LVM3-M2 is the dedicated commercial satellite mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Space.
• The mission is undertaken as part of the commercial agreement between NSIL and a U.K.-based company – Network Access Associates Limited (m/s OneWeb Ltd).
• 36 OneWeb Gen-1 satellites were launched into a circular low earth orbit of around 601 km altitude.

About LVM3:

• ISRO has recently renamed GSLV Mark III to Launch Vehicle Mark III or LVM III because of its successful mission to place the satellites in Low Earth Orbit.
  • Low-earth orbit satellites are usually placed less than 1,000 km above the earth’s surface, while satellites in Geostationary Equatorial Orbits are placed 35,000 km above the surface.
• The GSLV LVM III rocket’s powerful cryogenic stage enables it to place heavy payloads into Low Earth Orbits of 600 km altitude.
• With this launch, LVM3 has made its entry into the global commercial launch service market.
• The LVM3 was conceived primarily for launching geostationary satellites with a payload capacity of 4T, which can be used for launching 6T payloads for LEO.

Significance of this mission:

• The success of the mission means that India has a second launch vehicle after PSLV to offer to customers around the world. 
• The successful demonstration of the GSLV Mark 3 rocket’s ability to carry heavier payloads will boost revenues from each launch.
• This has also enhanced the credibility of the GSLV Mark 3 launch vehicle. This will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability.
• ISRO is also planning to launch ‘Chandrayaan 03’ in June 2023 using LVM3. 
• This partnership with NSIL and ISRO demonstrates OneWeb’s commitment to providing connectivity across the length and breadth of India by 2023.
  • It will bring secured solutions to enterprises and to towns, villages, municipalities and schools, including the hardest-to-reach areas across the country.
• All launches of OneWeb company satellites were done using Russian spacecraft. The first was in 2019.
• The recent launch using ISRO’s LVM3 is OneWeb’s first launch since parting ways with Russia’s Space Agency in March 2022 due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict.
• With Roscosmos imposing restrictions on global commercial clients looking to launch their satellites aboard its Soyuz line of rockets, the Indian space sector may stand to gain commercial contracts as a fallout of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• ISRO and NSIL can utilise this opportunity to build a robust and successful private-sector space market in India. 

Commercialisation of the Indian Space Sector:

• The Indian Space Sector has been globally recognised for building cost-effective satellites, and taking foreign satellites to space. 
• As per SpaceTech Analytics, India is the sixth-largest player in the industry internationally having 3.6% of the world’s space-tech companies (as of 2021). The U.S. holds the leader’s spot housing 56.4% of all companies in the space-tech ecosystem. 
  • Other major players include the U.K. (6.5%), Canada (5.3%), China (4.7%) and Germany (4.1%).
• With the advancement in the commercialization of the space sector, it is the right time to turn the corner and rethink India’s presence in the space domain.
• India’s satellite-manufacturing opportunity will reach USD 3.2 billion by the year 2025  from USD 2.1 billion in 2020.
• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) was launched to provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.
• The demand for satellites and space assets has also been increasing with the requirement for Earth-observing satellites to monitor any natural calamity or missions to save space assets from debris. 
• Considering this, more missions and manpower may soon be required to manage space programs. Thus, commercialisation and privatisation of the space sector will be beneficial.
• With significant policy changes and reforms, the space sector is now seeing growing participation of private players in a domain that until now was largely under government control. As a result, India now has around 100 active space tech start-ups.
• The private sector’s involvement in the long term, as with other commercial sectors, is believed to help spur investment and expertise in the realm which is capital-intensive and demands high technology. 

NewSpace India Limited (NSIL):

• It is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India and the commercial arm of ISRO.
• It was established in 2019 under the administrative control of the Department of Space (DoS) and the Companies Act 2013. 
• The main objective of NSIL is to scale up private sector participation in the Indian space programme.
• The primary responsibility is to enable Indian industries to take up high-technology space-related activities and is also responsible for the promotion and commercial exploitation of the products and services emanating from the Indian space programme.  
• NSIL currently has an authorised share capital of 100 crore rupees and a paid-up capital of 10 crore rupees. 
• To satisfy the needs of its customers, NSIL draws upon the proven heritage of the Indian Space Program and ISRO’s vast experience in diverse branches of Space Technology.

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