The Indian Space Program has set new benchmarks, since its first satellite, Aryabhatta, with more than 150 missions, over 60 launches and the country is extremely proud of Indian Space Research Organisation, which has consistently pursued its mandate with determination and focused on developing indigenous capability, constantly breaking new ground with the development of technology and applications.
The indigenous development of complex missions as Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, our Moon and Mars missions, and that too at a fraction of the cost of its peers, has re defined and set new benchmarks, globally and it is truly the flag bearer of the “Make in India” statement.
In order to realise the stated aim of making 18-20 satellites per year and doubling the number of launches to 10-12 launches a year, there is a need to enhance the Space Infrastructure, including the possibility of building space vehicles in a joint venture with the industry partnership by 2020-21, hence, there is a greater need for the industry both in the Public and the Private Sector, to come forward and join hands to support this initiative.
ISRO has been generous in sharing its work load with the industry and up to 80% of the work related to launch vehicles is already being done by the industry, both in the public and private sector, allowing ISRO to focus on core areas of vehicle integration, vehicle engineering and mission design and Quality Assurance and validation.
The requirement of the Indian space industry is significantly short of the stated goals. The space exploration and the space sector have an immense opportunity for the Indian and the global industry, due to the enhanced demand for satellites and space launch vehicles (@ 18-20 satellites per year and 12 launches per year). The key to success will be through a significant reduction of the cost of access to space, and the ISRO has been instrumental in developing the space and satellite industry clusters in the country.
Almost 75% of the launch vehicle work is being done by the Industry, with ISRO concentrating on its core activities of design, development, integration and assembly. ISRO has plans to privatise the operations of its popular Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by 2020-21 and private industry has been engaged with ISRO and ANTRIX to formulate a strategy to enhance the capacity and capability of managing the PSLV program on an end-to-end basis. ISRO is looking to set up a joint venture to manufacture the launch vehicle itself. The Government of India, has committed Rs 10,469 crore to India’s space agency to build 40 rockets over the next five years, which includes ten heavier rockets or the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch vehicle (GSLV Mk-III)
The assembly, integration and testing of IRNSS satellites in the private sector is a concrete step towards the eventual privatization of commercial satellites with the design, engineering and manufacturing of the components for satellites and launch vehicles already in the private sector domain.
Satellite Manufacturing Opportunities in India
The Indian Satellite markets are at the cusp of major expansion, as there is a mandate for launching ~75-80 satellites (1500kg upto 6 tons) in the next 5 years to meet the growing requirements of Indian communication, navigation, social sector and entertainment needs. This is a major opportunity as it needs an enhancement in the capacity, supplier / vendors and expansion of the industrial base to cater to the needs of ISRO.
The satellite manufacturing activity is being moved from in-house activity to AIT concept. ISRO has already selected 3 vendors (BEL / ADTL and TASL) for the first phase of Assembly, Integration of Testing of Satellites as URSC-ISAC. 27 satellites are to be manufactured, under this program over the next 3 years.
In satellite manufacturing, there is a requirement to augment the capacity, capability and cost of access. There is a need for the ownership of the Sub Systems for providing End to End solutions – there is an opportunity for the industry for moving up the ladder from being vendors to partners and scaling up.
Launch Vehicles :
There is a budgetary commitment of INR 10,469 crore for the 40 launch vehicles, over the next five years, which includes ten heavier rockets (GSLV Mk-III)
ISRO has a need to launch ~12 rockets (PSLV / GSLV) per annum, from the current rate of about ~6-7 rockets per year in order to launch the increased number of satellites. There is a stated intent for the privatisation of the PSLV rocket in the PPP domain through a consortium approach which represents a unique o Launch Vehicles: Sub Systems (Such as Control Panels) end to end collaboration.
SSLV, under development, for payloads up to 500 kgs will be a bespoke and "On Order" launch vehicles for nano sats / constellations / cubesats for LEO that can be launched as and when needed. SSLV is to be completely outsourced to the Industry in collaboration with ANTRIX.
Sourcing and Supply Chain - ISRO has incubated and nurtured a supply chain based on frugal engineering - which is extremely focused on cost reduction without compromising the quality / performance parameters. The technologies that have been transferred to the Industry for productionising and the components and sub- assemblies that can be exported have been notified.
There is an opportunity for the industry to become a part of the Global Supply Chain as foreign OEs can substantially reduce their cost of access by sourcing from the Indian satellite and launch vehicles sourcing and supply chain.
The commercial arm of ISRO, ANTRIX is a public sector enterprise and is free to enter into commercial arrangements, Strategic Alliances and JVs with the Indian and foreign industry as preferred partner from public sector, in the Indian space programs.
However, certain challenges and restraints, remain for the Industry to manage, in order to take advantages of the opportunities available, in the Indian Space programs – some of the challenges are that the Indian space and satellite industry has till date been beholden to the ISRO, and capitalised based on a single customer hence scaling needs to be done .In most cases the industry remains in the SME sector - even though large players as HAL / BEL / L&T and Godrej are major vendors to ISRO.
The restraints come in the form of the space clusters being concentrated near the ISRO labs / establishments responsible for a particular function and there is little in common with the Defence contractors. ISRO has invested, both in R&D and also as a partner in the production in terms of capital and human resources, in the SME industry that has been nurtured by it, therefore it is a stake holder in the capitalisation as well as strategic growth of these companies while teaming up with the foreign industry.
ISRO will remain the sole customer, for the industry unless the Indian Industry moves to adjacent domains. There is an opportunity for the industry to develop R&D and patents and thereby move up to value chain as vendors to the global supply chain.
Author:
Ratan Shrivastava, is a Defence & Space, Aerospace industry expert and consultant. He has led the Aerospace & Defence Consulting Practice at Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific and in South Asia & Middle East.
Ratan Shrivastava, is Advisor, FICCI Space Division. Views are personal.
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