SIGNALLING A major surge in its activities, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday said it would be launching more than 100 satellites in the next 15 years to meet the country’s needs for earth-observation data, and satellite-based communication and navigation.
This would be in addition to space exploration or science missions like those to the Moon, Mars or Venus, or the human spaceflight missions under the Gaganyaan programme.
“Over 100 satellite missions sounds like a lot, but it is only about seven to eight missions a year, up to 2040. This can easily be achieved, apart from our other missions like Chandrayaan or Gaganyaan,” said Nilesh Desai, director of Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre, at an event in New Delhi on Friday. Desai was presenting ISRO’s roadmap for 2047.
Until now, ISRO has been doing just about five to six launches — all kinds of missions — in a year. The maximum launches it has managed in a year is nine, in 2016. But ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the space agency was preparing to step up the gas.
“Space sector is undergoing a transformation. Our timelines must match the requirements of our country. Slowly but surely, these missions are going to bring great benefit to the country,” he said.
Relying on private firms
ISRO is planning to move into the next gear, banking heavily on the promise shown by the private space companies, both on the application side as well as those building hardware. At least 350 private space companies are currently in operation, and many of them have been working on extremely innovative projects. Their success is essential for ISRO delivering on its 2047 roadmap.
Narayanan said the space sector in India needed to undergo rapid indigenisation to enable the transformation, and expressed confidence that the emerging private industry would make this happen.
“We send communication satellites, but some crucial parts are currently imported. Similarly, we have built a strong navigation system, but if we are still importing atomic clocks that are part of that system, we cannot be talking about it in very glowing terms. We have now initiated the indigenisation of atomic clocks, but the rate of production of these atomic clocks has to go up,” he said. “The private industry has been showing immense promise, they are doing wonderful things. I am sure we will have a much higher degree of indigenisation in our missions very soon.”
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The 2047 roadmap for ISRO includes not just the Chandrayaan-4 and 5 missions, which have already been announced, but also 6, 7 and 8 before the crewed mission to Moon in 2040. Both Chandrayaan-4 and 5 are sample return missions, and are expected to happen in the 2027-28 timeline. Chandrayaan-5 is a joint mission with Japanese space agency JAXA. ISRO did not mention the timelines for the follow-on Chandrayaan missions. The roadmap also includes Mars lander mission, but the timeline is not specified. India’s first mission to Mars, Mangalyaan, was an Orbiter, and did not land.
Most of the 100-plus satellite launches that ISRO is planning in the next 15 years are going to be earth-observation satellites. About 80 of them would be meant only for land-based applications, while the others would enable ocean and atmospheric applications. ISRO is also planning 16 technology demonstration missions during this time, which will build and showcase its new and growing capabilities. Besides these, there are expected to be a number of communication and navigation satellite launches as well.
