Isro sets sights high in global space race

In flawlessly executing its two-in-one mission of two different orbits in a single mission, India’s elite space agency is all set to become an even bigger player in the international satellite launch business. With 79 foreign satellite launches on its books, Isro is already a virtual Indian multinational in marketing launches. It is setting its sights even higher, trying to establish a manufacturing base in association with industry to make very effective 3D and 3DR weather satellites for foreign countries after meeting India’s requirements. The proven stop-start capability of the rocket attained in Monday’s longish 135-minute flight record is what will give the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) an edge in space commerce, besides its safety record of 33 consecutive successful missions. It is justifiable then for Indians to take pride in Isro’s exploits, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is an unabashed fan of our scientists who made this possible. To adapt an old homily, the sky is not even the limit for Isro now.

The European Space Agency’s Vega rocket is said to have accomplished this complicated burn tech manoeuvre first, and others will join the race from the American private sector. Launch players like Ellon Musk and new economy czars like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are fascinated with these cutting-edge technologies in space research and engineering, and there will be no dearth of business in space. Their pockets are deep enough not to let an early disaster like the recent SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploding on the launch pad deter them. But what gives Isro and India the commercial advantage is the low cost of operations. Achieved on a shoestring budget, the Mangalyaan orbiter shook up the space community with its economy and endurance as the two-year-old probe has lived on well beyond its projected life and is still beaming back useful data.

In its conquest of space technology, Isro has gone far as an international player, its commercial arm Antrix having shown a turnover of Rs 1,790 crores in the current year. What this has done is to elevate India’s image from being the world’s back office — which business does of course bring in very valuable revenue in foreign exchange — to a pioneer in complex space engineering. Its successful demonstration last month of the hypersonic air-breathing dual mode ramjet engine (known as Scarmjet), using atmospheric oxygen in a part of its journey, saw it pursuing a most futuristic concept, revealing its ambition to be a premier space-faring agency. To see our nation progress from the unforgettable vignette of its early space programme, reflected in a rocket being carried on the back of a bicycle in Thumba, Kerala, to where we are now is heart-warming.