ISRO has made a kit for private sector to make space rockets
27 September 2023
New Delhi
ISRO's mandate has changed and it is no longer a secretive organization, and now its mandate is to do research and transfer knowledge to industry for business, according to Mr S Somanath, Chairman, ISRO. "ISRO's research is now available to private sector for business opportunities," he said at the 50th National Management Convention organized by All India Management Association (AIMA).
ISRO is also looking for private investment and FDI now, as it is not possible for the government to fund all its programmes, Mr Somanath said. He said that ISRO wants India to become a preferred destination for space services and manufacturing. He said that private-public partnership was the key to taking Indian space industry's revenues from $7 billion to $50 billion. India has 53 satellites now but it needs 500, he said.
ISRO has already incubated companies that are now building satellites and rocket engines, and new companies are coming up for using space data. "These companies will take time to mature. ISRO is supporting them and not competing with them," Mr Somanath said.
ISRO Chairman said that the organization is looking to transfer technology and knowledge to Indian industry consortia for making rockets. He said that ISRO is transferring SLV and SSLV rocket knowhow. "Future rockets should be made by public-private consortia," he said.
Talking about inclusion of ISRO's navigation system in iPhone 15, Mr Somanath said that ISRO had to make changes in the bands and have L1 band for iPhones. "Our goal is to be better than GPS for navigation in India," he said.
Mr Somanath said that ISRO has benefited from the ongoing global conflict and it got the business of launching 32 OneWeb satellites. He said that the company now wants to come to ISRO for future satellite launches also. He pointed out that ISRO has also done two commercial missions for Singapore recently using SSLV, which carries half the payload of a large rocket but at one-tenth of the cost.
Explaining the low costs of ISRO, Mr Somanath said that cost control is in the culture of the organization. "The organization does not allow exceeding the cost and requires making best use of the existing infrastructure and equipment," he said. He added that the cost of manufacturing and people is lower in India, about one-third. However, he said that the material cost is same everywhere and the cost of electronics is higher in India. However, the overall cost is controlled by ISRO, he said.
Talking about people cost in ISRO, Mr Somanath said that ISRO works on inspiration and not remuneration. He said that most of the scientists at ISRO are from small towns and they are more driven and have fewer distractions than the city dwellers. "By paying more you cannot get better talent," he said. ISRO's scientists are also not afraid of trying and failing because all successes and failures are collective. "The easiest decision in the Chandrayaan mission was not to launch it and that would have removed the risk of failure," he said.
Regarding the Gaganyaan mission to put an Indian on the moon and bring him back safely, Mr Somanath said that it is a huge engineering challenge and India is not getting any help from anyone even after asking for it. "We get only literature and we have to engineer around it on a limited budget," he said. He added that the mission is to create Indian presence in space and ISRO is seeking funding from the government to build bases in space. He informed that the crew escape system will be tested next month.
AIMA felicitated ISRO and Mr Somanath on the spectacular success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which put Indian lander and rover on Moon's south pole.
Mr P Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer
Vodafone Idea Ltd, congratulated ISRO and Mr Somanath on its outstanding services to the country since the 1970s and for establishing Indian presence on Moon. "He is the man who made the impossible happen," he said.
Mr Frank Richter, Founder and Chairman, Horasis: The Global Visions Community, complimented ISRO and India on joining the select club of countries that have reached Moon "The results from this mission can be used by the whole world," he said.
Mr Somanath presented the awards to the winners of this year's Best LMA contest. Madras Management Association received the National Excellence Award while Ahmedabad Management Association won the Best LMA Award. In the Category two, three and four, the winners were Kerala, Thrissur and Navsari Management Associations. Calcutta Management Association won the Most Improved LMA Award.
The session was also livestreamed on AIMA's social media channel.
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