Quantum Leap In 2023! ISRO Set To Experiment With Dedicated Mission for Sun, Moon
In 2023, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is turning to science experiments with dedicated missions to the Sun — Aditya — and the moon — Chandrayaan-3 amidst the galloping leap of nascent startup sector in the space applications segment.
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Experiments on India’s maiden human space flight
The upcoming year is set to bring forth a series of experiments on India’s maiden human space flight — the Gaganyaan project.
The first uncrewed mission in the project is expected in the last quarter of 2023. It aims to validate the performance of the human-rated launch vehicle, orbital module propulsion system and recovery operations.
As per a PTI report, ISRO further plans to conduct the first runway landing experiment (RLV-LEX) of the reusable launch vehicle early 2023 from Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka’s Chitradurga.
Startup buzz in aerospace sector
Indian startups that marked their arrival with the sub-orbital flight by Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-S rocket, the first by a private sector company and the launch of Pixxel’s hyperspectral satellites Shakuntala and Anand onboard ISRO’s PSLV in November.
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Skyroot Aerospace, which launched India’s first privately developed rocket in November, plans to put a client satellite in orbit sometime in 2023, while Agnikul Cosmos, a startup incubated on the IIT-Madras campus, has also lined up the test flight of its highly customisable Agnibaan rocket.
The startups are eyeing the vast space applications market in the country, which was earlier the sole domain of ISRO, carving a niche for themselves in the earth imaging sector, developing rockets to launch small satellites, designing cheaper fuels for satellites and even planning to take tourists on a space journey.
DhruvaSpace had launched two satellites, Thybolt 1 & 2, onboard ISRO’s PSLV C-54 mission, demonstrating the ability to conduct amateur satellite communication to help ham radio operations. The private aerospace manufacturer has reportedly bagged its first commercial contract worth Rs 20 crore to build satellites.
Agnikul also inaugurated its first launchpad and mission control centre at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
Milestones of 2022
In 2022, the industry witnessed some major milestones with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) authorising the space conglomerate formed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited a Rs 860-crore contract for the commercial development of the next five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).
OneWeb also signed up the services of ISRO’s launch vehicle to put 36 satellites in low earth orbit from Sriharikota. A follow-up launch of another 36 satellites is expected in 2023.
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The OneWeb contract for ISRO is learnt to be an outcome of some aggressive bidding by the Indians after the Ukraine conflict knocked off the Russian space launch capabilities off the market.
Aggression in the Indian space sector
Chaitanya Giri, space consultant with Research and Information System for Developing Countries, likens the aggression in the Indian space sector to the one displayed by Sourav Ganguly’s cricket team.
“Our earlier approach was like Mohammad Azharuddin-led cricket team – very mellow and gentlemanly. The newfound aggression is because of India’s rising geopolitical stature. Also, the Russian market has become a no go due to the Ukraine conflict. So is the Chinese market. Now, it is Advantage India,” Giri said.
He further stated that Indian startups should also vie for international contracts and not look at ISRO for business.
“ISRO is not an entity that will sustain business for them. Indian space startups, MSMEs and big corporates will have to strike business arrangements amongst each other. These B-2-B arrangements need to grow,” Giri added.
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