ISRO’s SSLV is ready for commercialisation; Skyroot, Agnikul eyes market share in small satellite business | Today News

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) recent satellite launching vehicle, SSLV, is the first rocket in its category ready for commercialisation. Two others, Vikram from Skyroot and Agnibaan from Agnikul Cosmos, are competing for market share to place small satellites into Earth’s orbit, according to a PTI report on Sunday, August 18.

India’s satellite launch market is estimated to grow to $3.5 billion by 2033, compared to $720 million in 2022, according to industry estimates quoted in the report. Small satellites are expected to be the most preferred mode from providing internet connections to Earth observation, as per the news agency.

“Larger launch vehicles are there, but with a large number of satellites being launched, companies do not want to wait, they want to launch a satellite as soon as they can and small vehicles are tailor made for them,” said Lt Gen A K Bhatt (retd), Director General of Indian Space Association, according to the news report.

Startups in the space segment, like Pixxel and Satsure, have unveiled their plans to have many small satellites for the services they plan to offer, and Indian launch vehicles will be preferred to put these satellites into orbit, as per the report.

“Right now, of the six satellites we are building, three of them will launch with SpaceX and three with ISRO,” Pixxel CEO Awais Ahmed told the news agency in July. Pixxel is also eyeing to use ISRO’s launch vehicles to place its hyperspectral satellites into orbit, as per the report.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe) was also in talks with various government ministries to have multiple constellations of small satellites to meet their requirements, said Bhatt, according to the news report.

“These satellites will be built by Indian companies and will help create a market for home-grown launch vehicles,” said Bhatt, quoted in the news report.

After ISRO’s launch of a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) on August 16, Chairman S Somanath announced the development of launch vehicle was complete and the rocket was ready for transfer for mass production, as per the news report.

“We are hoping that this will really help the industries scale their competence and capabilities to build smaller rockets,” said Somanath, quoted in the news report.

On the technology transfer front, IN-SPACe will work with ISRO for the coming two years to understand the technology, he said, according to the report. IN-SPACe has organised a one-day interaction with industry entities to understand issues related to technology transfer, said the report.

“It is not just manufacturing technology that we are transferring. We are also transferring the knowledge on how things are done. They need to come inside ISRO and work with us and learn the techniques. We are teaching them how to build the rocket,” said Somanath, according to the report. “We will look at various criteria, including manufacturing, facilities and financial strength. There will be a technology transfer fee that they will have to pay,” he said.