ISRO marches on: India to disrupt the space shuttle market soon?

An Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter launched on a mission that had never been undertaken in the early hours of April 2nd in Karnataka. Reusable Launch Vehicle, or RLV, was being transported by the helicopter in order to perform India’s first precise, quick unmanned landing.

The Chinook broke records for transporting a winged body to such a height by flying to a height of 4.5 kilometres. When the RLV touched down at 7:40 AM, having met all of its criteria, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and other Indian tech organisations marked a significant turning point for India’s space industry.

Sustainable space exploration will be achievable thanks to its low cost; Space X now has competition. In 2014, the New York Times was obliged to issue an apology for a racist cartoon it had published ridiculing India’s ‘Mangalyaan’ Mars orbit mission. The cartoon suggested that the space club was an exclusive club that India still had to earn its way into. 20 years later, things have changed, and yet again, the Western press has been proven to be inaccurate.

India has improved its space missions because to the diligent work of the ISRO and other notable Indian organisations. India has improved the payload capacity of its rockets and successfully created a space programme that has excelled its competitors in terms of tech and expertise, forcing space players all over the world to go to India for assistance.

This is another illustration of the need of never underestimating Indian scientists or the new political regime at the Centre, which is determined and capable of getting things done no matter what. In the 1960s, a little-known fishing village named Thumba in the southern Indian state of Kerala is where the Indian space narrative first began.

The speed of the Indian space voyage has been exponential and unmatched, from satellite launches and operations to technological invention and the development of commercial satellite launch facilities. From launch until landing, the Indian Space Programme has created strong and extensive Standard Operating Procedures.

By launching its satellites, India’s space exploration agency ISRO, which controls the country’s space industry, has helped other nations and the country itself reach important milestones. 36 satellites of OneWeb, a UK-based firm with Indian ownership, were just successfully launched by ISRO’s Launch Vehicle Mark III, completing the first generation Low Earth Orbit constellation. The head of the Indian Space Research Organisation, S. Somanath, commented on the launch of PSLV C55.

“Today, after this launch, we are preparing to commence the launch campaign of PSLV-C55. This launch is for NSIL & to be launched most probably by the end of March. So the launch campaign will commence today by placing the rocket at the launch pedestal in a new facility”.

More recently, ISRO’s Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) accomplished a successful landing, taking India one step closer to realising its goal of developing a self-sustaining space programme and space plane. “First in the world” technology was used to launch the vehicle. A winged body was transported by helicopter to a height of 4.5 kilometres, where it was then released for a self-contained landing on the runway.

ISRO has joined an exclusive group of space organisations thanks to the successful demonstration of its cutting-edge and economical technology. India has become a global leader in providing third-party launch services with the help of ISRO. By launching satellites for 34 countries, India has generated enormous revenue to date totaling USD 279 million through the ISRO. The development of various application fields, including as weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, disaster management, and agriculture, has been significantly aided by India’s space industry.

According to experts, this Indian initiative would soon transform the game. An age of expansion, innovation, and faster investment in the space economy has arrived as a result of the sector’s opening to private participation in all phases of activities. With this reform, the government has given Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) the ability to manage their own space activities, made ISRO’s infrastructure and resources available to private businesses, and encouraged the next generation of innovators.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during one of his conferences with ISRO officials said that “Our reform approaches are based on four pillars. First, the private sector should have the freedom to innovate, second, is the role as an enabler, third preparing youth for the future, fourth is treating space as a resource for progress”.

In keeping with its commitment to become self-sufficient, India will soon launch “Gaganyaan,” the nation’s first-ever Aatmanirbhar human flight. The project’s goal is to launch a three-person crew into orbit for five to seven days and return them safely to Earth.

From 2022 to 2023, India committed $137 billion to the Department of Space for the efficient execution of all its missions. A survey by the Indian Space Association (ISA) and Ernst & Young (EY) predicts that the market for satellite production would increase from $2.1 billion in 2020 to $3.2 billion in 2025, while the market for launch services will increase from $567.4 million to $1 billion in the same period.

India has formed space project collaborations with the United Nations, BRICS countries, as well as with Israel, NASA, and the European Space Agency for the greater good of people all over the world. India’s innovative technological work has benefited the country’s space industry. Government initiatives and reforms are on track to fundamentally alter the Indian space industry and speed up the sector’s expansion.

India made history by being the first nation to successfully enter the orbit of the Red Planet. Mangalyaan was the first and most cost-effective trip to Mars. Only 11% of NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN)’s $75 million budget went towards it. The space spirit of India is unstoppable and determined. According to experts, India’s lunar exploration programme would be successful soon.