Indian satellite goes down in flames

Sufia Tippu
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 10:02

IT Industry - Market

Against the background of India’s attempts of becoming a leader in the global satellite launch services market, comes a setback with its rocket carrying the country’s heaviest communication satellite so far (INSAT-4C) crashing in the sea, late Monday evening.

This came just after a day Agni III – India missile test failed and crashed into the Bay of Bengal.

The rocket lifted off from Sriharikota, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, on Monday evening. But within a minute it veered from its trajectory, disintegrating into flaming components

ISRO Chairman, G. Madhavan Nair, said considering the complexities and challenges of a launch, this was a minor setback and would not affect the country's space program itself, he said, adding that the scientists would analyze the mistakes and learn from them.

Although space scientists in the country may be in a sober mood over the failure of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) launch on Monday, they are optimistic about the continued success of India’s space program.

India has had a string of successes in space launches over the last two decades – with only five failures in 21 launch efforts. The launches between 1993 and 2006 have been remarkably consistent, giving birth to the idea that India could become a global service hub for space launch vehicles.

Space scientist U R Rao former ISRO chairman who has overseen some of the early launch vehicle activities, termed the crash as "a disappointment rather than a setback”.
 “Information is pouring by the minute and I am sure the scientists will find out the reason behind the failure and set things right. But at this point it’s important to remember that India has had very few failures in space research programs and this does not mean we will come to a halt. We have a long way to go,” he told reporters in Bangalore.

If all had gone well, ISRO would have lined up its 12th consecutive launch, including eight PSLVs that are now its workhorses, and have made four commercial launches of small, piggyback satellites. It would have also meant that Insat-4C weighing 2.16 tonnes would have been the heaviest liftoff and the first operational INSAT to fly from home soil.

India’s game plan in the global market

A couple of months earlier, ISRO officials had remarked that the Satish Dhawan Space Centre could emerge as a global hub, rivaling similar facilities in Europe and the US.

ISRO had been launching Korean, Belgian and German payloads in the past and would continue to do. According to reports, ISRO is now developing a new launch vehicle, GSLV -Mk III, which will be capable of launching up to four tons into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The first prototype is expected to be ready 2008-09 time frame.

ISRO had been projecting the GSLV as a cheaper and reliable service in the small but tough $2 billion space transportation market. An Indian launch is said to come 30% cheaper, according to ISRO officials.

The market is dominated by Europe's Arianespace, US players Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and to a lesser extent by China and Japan.


EADS to set up India development centre

Meanwhile, senior officials from the European Aeronautics Defence and Space (EADS) have been visiting Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad to set up an exclusive campus in India.

Yvan Le Naour, EADS vice-president for Global Industrial Development, Strategy Planning and Projects, is reported to have said that the organization has been evaluating the three cities and would take a decision by August. It plans to hire 2,000 employees.

EADS is looking at sourcing engineering services and IT from India for its space and defence projects. The campus would have engineers working on an array of projects — Airbus, Atrium, Eurocopter, ATR and defence — all of which come under EADS overall supervision.

It also plans to house captive companies and suppliers of Airbus (like P3), Eurocopter and Atrium along with employed engineers in the campus. It will also partner existing companies involved in aerospace activity — like Infosys, TCS and Satyam.