RADHAKRISHNA RAO / BANGALORE
India's slow but steady progress in technology has put it near the forefront of the regional space race...but will it decide to launch a manned programme?
A buoyant economy expanding at over 8% a year, growing global recognition for its IT skills and impressive strides in research and technology are positioning India to become a major regional and economic power by 2015.
In keeping with this resurgent image, India is redefining the priorities of its space programme with plans for lunar-orbiting and capsule-recovery missions, higher-performance launch vehicles and advanced communications and Earth-observation satellites during this decade. And in keeping with its long-term vision of low-cost access to space, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is pursuing an ambitious reusable launch vehicle (RLV) research and development programme, with a small-scale air-breathing propulsion technology demonstrator planned.
Manned mission
China's first manned orbital mission in October last year seems to have propelled India into considering a manned mission of its own. "We are in the process of trying to evaluate the pros and cons of requirements for the manned mission," says G Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO. While ISRO is already preparing for the possibility of such a venture, there are diverse views in the country about the need to put an Indian in space, he says. If critics of a manned mission prevail it will largely be the result of India's success in exploiting satellite technology.
India's 40-year space programme has become largely self-reliant, with the capability to design and build satellites and launch them using home-grown boosters. ISRO's biggest breakthrough in 2003 was the qualification of an indigenous cryogenic rocket engine to replace the Russian-supplied upper stage of its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). Integration into the three-stage GSLV booster will take another year, but the indigenous engine will enable the booster to launch 2.5t-class satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and help India end its dependence on Arianespace for launching its Insat series of domestic satellites.
Developed from the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the GSLV is India's most powerful space booster, with two successful orbital missions to its credit. Work on the GSLV began in 1990 with the aim of giving India independent access to space. Now, in a bid to enter the global commercial satellite launch market, ISRO has begun developing an augmented version, the GSLV Mk III, able to launch 4t-class satellites into GTO. The GSLV-III is a three-stage vehicle with a 110t core liquid-propellent stage and two strap-on motors each with 200t of solid propellant. It is expected to be ready for flight before the end of the decade.
The GSLV is a far cry from the 9kg (20lb) sounding rocket launched from a modest research facility at Thumba in Kerala in 1963, signalling India's entry into the space age. Progress since has been steady, if slow. The success of India's first four-stage, solid-fuel SLV-3 in 1980 led ISRO to develop the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) capable of placing a 150kg satellite into a near-Earth orbit. The ASLV was built around the SLV-3 with two strap-on boosters.
Using expertise acquired from the SLV-3 and ASLV projects, ISRO developed the PSLV as its first operational launch vehicle. The four-stage booster, featuring alternate liquid- and solid-fuel stages, has made seven successful launches including two commercial flights carrying foreign satellites. The 295t PSLV can launch payloads into near-Earth, polar/Sun-synchronous and geosynchronous transfer orbits.
An augmented version of the PSLV will carry India's first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, in 2008. The Rp3.8 billion ($84 million) mission to put a 525kg craft in lunar orbit is considered a precursor to future planetary probes, including a mission to the Moon. Chandrayaan-1 will carry payloads for high-resolution remote sensing in the visible, near-infrared and x-ray spectra.
While there is no firm plan for a manned Moon mission, for now ISRO is working on a space-capsule recovery experiment (SRE) aimed at acquiring expertise in re-entry. To be launched alongside another payload on a PSLV flight scheduled for 2005, the SRE will help India carry out microgravity experiments in orbit and demonstrate deboost from orbit for re-entry and recovery from the sea using a flotation system.
In contrast to its slow progress in launch vehicles, ISRO has made relatively brisk strides in satellite technology. One reason is the contributions communications and Earth-observation satellites are making to India's socio-economic development.
Commissioned in 1983, the Insat constellation today provides more than 130 transponders in various bands in addition to meteorological capability. The latest in the series, Insat-3E, was launched in September last year by Ariane 5. Services provided by Insat include telecommunications, television broadcasting, weather monitoring, disaster warning and satellite-aided search and rescue.
India uses the Insat system capability to support the Gramsat communications network used for e-governance, distance education, teleconferencing and disaster management. Insat is also being harnessed to set up telemedicine networks in remote parts of India and has additionally been used to demonstrate and introduce satellite-based aircraft navigation, mobile communications, digital audio and data broadcasts and emergency communications.
Weather watching
Launch of the dedicated Kalpana-1 satellite by PSLV in September 2002 augmented the Insat system's weather services. Insat-3D, a full-blown meteorological satellite, will be launched by GSLV in 2004-5 and is set to be the first in the series to be launched from Indian soil. G-Sat-3, a dedicated educational satellite, is scheduled for a mid-year launch by GSLV. G-Sat-4, carrying an Israeli-built ultraviolet telescope, is planned for launch in 2005.
ISRO, meanwhile, has launched development of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) to demonstrate capabilities planned for future Insat satellites. The fourth-generation Insat constellation, comprising up to seven satellites, is expected to boost transponder availability. By 2007, when the first three Insat-4 satellites enter service, the number of transponders will reach 250, ISRO says.
India claims to operate the world's largest constellation of remote-sensing satellites. The IRS system, commissioned in 1988, today comprises six spacecraft. According to the Indian Space Department, the system provides remote-sensing data with a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions to meet needs relevant to national development. India uses IRS data for applications including agricultural yield forecasting, forest cover and water resources mapping, drought and wasteland monitoring, snow melt run-off prediction, urban development, environmental impact assessment and ocean resources exploration.
Launched in October last year by PSLV, IRS-P6 - also known as Resourcesat - is the heaviest Earth-observation satellite yet deployed by ISRO. The high-resolution data provided by the 1,360kg Resourcesat will improve agriculture and disaster management as well as land and water resources management, says ISRO.
This year the IRS-P5 satellite, designed for cartographic applications, will be launched by PSLV. The data from this satellite, also called Cartosat-1, will be used in urban and disaster management and relief planning, as well as for geospatial information services. Cartosat-II, a remote-sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot images for cartographic applications, will be launched in 2005.
In 2006 ISRO plans to launch the Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat), featuring a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) sensor. With its ability to collect data even at night and through cloud, Risat will be valuable in areas including agriculture, forestry, soil moisture hydrology and disaster management. Before the end of the decade ISRO plans to launch an advanced ocean-monitoring satellite, Oceansat-II, for deeper exploration of the waters around India.
Megha Tropiques, the joint Indo-French satellite to be launched by PSLV in 2006, is an example of India's commitment to international space co-operation. This project, aimed at studying the tropical atmosphere, involves the joint development of scientific instruments to be placed on the French Proteus space platform.
Military benefits
India's military has benefited hugely from these space activities. The solid-rocket motor and control, guidance and navigation technology developed for the SLV-3 and ASLV boosters has been adapted for India's nuclear-capable Agni range of surface-to-surface missiles under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Similarly, India's secret plan to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile will benefit from PSLV and GSLV technologies.
S Krishnaswamy, chief of the Indian air force, has for some time stressed the need to create a command and control infrastructure supported by a network of communications, navigation and early-warning satellites. The Indian government has yet to take a final decision. Following the failure of Indian defence intelligence to foresee incursions into the Kargil region, the Indian military has been scouting for high-resolution satellite imaging that would provide a glimpse into adjoining Pakistaniterritory. Data from the 1m-resolution Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) launched by PSLV in October 2001 continues to be used by Indian security forces. To supplement the TES images, India has approached Israel with a request for Offeq-5 data.
India has not lost sight of the opportunities offered by the global space market. Bangalore-based Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian space programme, earned Rs1 billion in the last fiscal year by providing expertise and hardware to the export customers. Antrix's link with US firm Space Imaging has resulted in data from IRS satellites being marketed worldwide.
India's prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has previously offered to build and launch satellites for the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations at a "modest cost". Antrix has made exploratory proposals to market medium-class satellites to developing countries. The company has also sold hardware to satellite builders in Europe and the USA and recently provided components for Japan's MTSAT-2 satellite.
Launch services
India is making some progress in promoting the PSLV for launching lightweight payloads. Antrix has signed an agreement with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to launch its X-Sat Earth-observation microsatellite on a PSLV flight in 2005. But the company lost the contract to launch Taiwan's Rocsat satellite because of sanctions imposed by the USA following India's 1998 nuclear tests. India is also keen to market the GSLV, and US analyst Frost & Sullivan believes ISRO can leverage its expertise to package satellite plus launch contracts that will significantly expand its market.
In recent years ISRO has encouraged industry to graduate from providing parts to supplying major systems required for Indian satellites and launch vehicles. The long-term goal is to make Indian industry capable of developing the entire spacecraft and launch vehicle.
From being a government monopoly, the Indian space market is being opened up to private participation. The new satellite communications policy adopted by the government in May 2000 allows private Indian companies to launch and operate their own satellite systems provided foreign ownership does not exceed 74%.
Mumbai-based Agrani Satellite Services is preparing the ground for the Ariane 5 launch this year of the Agrani satellite. The Alcatel-built spacecraft carried 38 transponders and has a design life of 14 years. Agrani is envisaged as supporting a wide range of applications including television broadcasting, digital wireless, business networks, domestic and international internet as direct-access international connectivity. Agrani is so far the only private Indian satellite venture.
Another major policy decision that could accelerate private participation in the space sector is the lifting of the ban on the use of Ku-band communications and broadcasting. On another front the so-called "hybrid satellite plan" makes room for joint ventures between ISRO and private satellite companies. The goal is to harness the potential of private satellites in co-ordination with the Insat system to meet the growing demand for transponders.
Further ahead, the Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory has begun development of a supersonic-combustion ramjet (scramjet) engine. The air-breathing scramjet is being seen as a key element of a future reusable space vehicle. Successful demonstration of a scramjet technology could boost prospects for the Avatar "hyperplane" project. The 25t Avatar is designed to serve both as a low-cost reusable space vehicle and high-speed civil transport.
Before decade-end, India plans to build and test a scaled-down version weighing about 3t to establish the feasibility of the technology. However, a project as ambitious as the Avatar will have to overcome many complex challenges to succeed.
Source: Flight International
