India sets Israeli eye in sky

Isro reinforces place in world market with spy satellite launch

CHENNAI: Dismissing reports that India was buckling under pressure from the US and some Gulf countries against launching a spy satellite for Israel, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Monday launched the Israeli Techsar (Technology Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, reinforcing its place in the commercial satellite launch market.

Isro’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C8) took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, some 80 km from Chennai, at 9.15 am and, about 20 minutes later, put the 300-kg satellite in an orbit 450 km to 580 km above earth. “We were not under pressure from anybody,” said Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair. “It is a red letter day for Antrix Corporation (Isro’s commercial wing) and we have reconfirmed our presence in the international commercial satellite launch market as a reliable and cost-effective option.”

Techsar, which can see through thick clouds and darkness to give a clear image of the ground at a spatial resolution of less than one metre, is considered a spy satellite. After the launch — originally scheduled for September 2007 — was postponed twice, there were reports that Isro is under pressure from the US and some Gulf countries to back off. Evading queries on the defence applications of the satellite, Madhavan Nair said: “Our job was to carry the satellite to the designated orbit and we have done that. The agency that has developed the satellite usually does not reveal technical details.”

This is the second full-fledged commercial launch —  the first being that of Agile, an Italian astronomical satellite on April 23, 2007 — which puts India firmly in the league of the US, Russia, China, Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA).
 
Antrix corporation executive director KR Sridhara Murthy said Antrix’s revenue has gone up from Rs450 crore last year to Rs660 crore this year and is likely to cross Rs750 crore next year. “Global rates of a commercial launch varies from US $15,000 to US $20,000 (Rs6,00,000 to Rs 8,00,000) per kg and we are offering a competitive price,” said Murthy.

Monday’s launch was priced above global rates, but there are no many countries offering commercial launches of such small satellites which the PSLV is good at. To suit the small payload, the PSLV was stripped off its six strap-on motors, bringing down the weight of the vehicle (from 295 tonnes to 230 tonnes)
and its cost.

“This is the 11th consecutive successful flight of the PSLV. We will be using the vehicle for Chandraayan, our moon mission this year. PSLV can put satellites weighing up to 2.5 tonnes in near-earth orbit and up to 1.5 tonnes in a geosynchronous orbit,” Madhavan Nair said.

arunram@dnaindia.net