The Hindu Business Line : Success in space

Being monotonously consistent is no bad attribute; in the satellite launching business at least, it is a qualification that wins customers. For the Indian Space Research Organisation and its marketing arm, Antrix, the ninth consecutive successful launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will substantially enhance their credibility in the global launch market for low earth orbiting satellites. It has of course taken a long while for them to get to attain this status. The satellite launch programme, which started more than a couple of decades ago, had more than its share of problems and handicaps given the sanctions imposed by the United States on ISRO acquiring components and subsystems. Yet it is most creditable that the programme did not flounder; indeed the constraint only served to strengthen domestic resolve to succeed.

Having used the previous eight essays to hoist into space some light-weight experimental satellites for overseas outfits in addition to some for governmental organisations, Antrix and ISRO have truly established themselves as credible players in this technology-led industry with the launch of the Italian astronomical satellite, Agile, earlier this week. It was the first dedicated commercial exercise for the now-proven launcher, and certainly will not be the last. Yet ISRO will be the first to acknowledge there is still considerable distance to be travelled considering that the larger market is for the heavier and more powerful geostationary communications satellites.

The satellite business itself has not seen the boom that was once forecast. The rapid spread of cellular telephony across the globe, indeed far faster than anyone predicted, has killed the idea of having a constellation of low-orbit satellites connecting people on the move. Carrying telephone calls across countries and oceans was seen as the most profitable task for satellites; yet the rapid deployment of the more commodious optical fibre cables spanning all continents and countries has sidelined the satellite, leaving it to serve the cause of direct-to-home television and radio broadcasts, of weather forecasters and of the military. While that is a distinctly smaller market than what it might have been had the optical fibre not come along, it still is a growing market, and one where the supply of capacity is still short of the demand. Aspiring television broadcasters, for instance, need to wait months to obtain slots on a satellite. New markets are waiting to be created for satellite-based navigation in vehicles. It would not hurt for ISRO to channel more resources into speeding up capacity building. Its dream is to graduate to launching the two-tonne class communication satellites, but that could take at least three-four years to materialise.

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