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Madhumathi D.S.

The contract to build the satellite is the first fruit of the marketing alliance formed between ISRO and EADS Astrium in June 2005.

Bangalore , Feb. 3

ISRO's export arm, Antrix Corporation, has won its first major international contract to build a satellite.

It has bagged the Eutelsat contract jointly with Paris-based EADS Astrium, also a satellite maker.

The 3-tonne communications satellite, W2M, will be built at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore over 26 months from signing the contract, in time for launch towards the second half of 2008.

EADS Astrium, which is the prime contractor, will provide the core payload, according to an announcement made by Eutelsat on its Web site.

A 3-tonne equivalent satellite like the recently launched Insat-4A costs ISRO Rs 237 crore, including payload (around 30 per cent) and insurance.

In the W2M case, it is understood that nearly 75 per cent of the satellite building work will come to ISRO, including the main structure, thermal and propulsion systems, batteries, solar array, telemetry and control systems. The contract to build the 26-32-transponder W2M is the first fruit of the marketing alliance formed between ISRO and EADS Astrium in June 2005.

The Paris-based Eutelsat Communications, with a fleet of 22 communications satellites, is one of the world's top three satellite operators, with a 2004-05 revenue of 750 million euro (around Rs 4,000 crore).

The contract would be signed on February 20 in New Delhi.

ISRO merely confirmed that it had received the communication on Tuesday but did not disclose the financial terms. EADS alone has built 12 of the earlier Eutelsat satellites. To source a satellite from India is also considered to be cost-effective compared to the US or Europe.

Winning the order is a morale-booster for the national agency that has built over 20 of its own satellites so far but was waiting for some time to enter the international arena.

In the past, ISRO tried to strike two similar marketing alliances, first with US major Lockheed Martin several years ago and more recently with yet another US maker Boeing Satellite Systems, but neither of them materialised.

"It is a certainly major achievement to get an order from a big operator like Eutelsat," the ISRO spokesman said.

In an interview to Business Line last month, the Department of Space Secretary, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, had indicated that Antrix had good chances of winning 2-3 European satellite contracts in a highly competitive market.

The ISRO-EADS Astrium tie-up sealed at the last Paris air show is for joint bidding for 2- or 3-tonne satellites with payload power below 4kw.

ISRO also hopes to launch foreign satellites. Its GSLV rocket currently has the capability to lift up to 2 tonnes for orbits required for telecommunication satellites.

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