The Hindu Business Line : US pact not yet a launchpad for ISRO

The Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that the Department of Space has signed with the US is a small comforting step, but does not yet fully or readily allow India to tap the global launch services market, according to several well-informed sources that Business Line spoke to.

The TSA technically opens the gates to Indian launch of only non-commercial satellites made in the US or having US components.

One beneficiary would be the Indo-French meteorology satellite, Megha-Tropiques, with such components. Due in 2010, it may not need to seek US clearance.

The real piece of cake would be if – or when – the two countries sign the CSLA (Commercial Space Launches Agreement); it is also being discussed since 2005 and could clear the way for bigger and lucrative deals, according to Mr A. Bhaskaranarayana, ISRO’s Scientific Secretary and Director, SatCom Programme, who signed the agreement last week.

‘One irritant gone’

The TSA, he said, should smoothen the way for governments and universities to look at ISRO to launch small experimental satellites. “It removes the US restriction on only non-commercial launches. Certainly, one irritant is gone, one more [the CSLA] yet to be resolved,” Mr Bhaskaranarayana said.

While the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre and launch port Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota remain blacklisted by the US as ‘entities’, the TSA’s benefits are anyone’s guess. Asked about this, the ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, said on Wednesday, “it’s a process which goes on [for removing them.]”

The pact limits ISRO to some of the 25-30 small satellites that are said to be coming up. Since 1999, when the PSLV rocket entered the low-orbit market at 30-40 per cent price difference over the West, ISRO has been content with lifting micro and nano satellites of sub-100 kg as co-passengers. It has serviced 16 such minor payloads. Now the higher-orbit GSLV is also in the market, but for the US curbs.

The small contracts ISRO got reportedly felt the heat of US export control checks - against critical US components getting into `dual-use' or missile programmes. The operator of the Italian satellite `Agile' that went on a PSLV in 2007 reportedly got the clearances as a one-off. At least one contract was reportedly lost for the same reason.

Mr K. R. Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director of ISRO's business arm, Antrix Corporation, said, "[The pact] won't suddenly change our business. Third parties can now come to us for a launch with less uncertainty and more comfort. They do not have to wait for US export control clearance."

Last year, launch services formed around 12 per cent of the Rs 940-crore turnover of Antrix. "We were not too much worried about this agreement," Mr Murthi said. "It's still early days. The other factor is our capacity to cater to them against internal market needs."

The TSA comes at a time when ISRO is scaling up towards Moon and Mars missions, human flights and reusable vehicles and needs to test new technology platforms.

A launch market does exist for ISRO as majors Arianespace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin - with five times bigger capacities to lift 10-12 tonnes - are seen to be too big or busy for lesser payloads.

A satellite uses thousands of components such as sensors, gyroscopes, memory chips and integrated circuits. US components are 20-40 per cent cheaper than those from Europe. One refrain is: "It is difficult to find satellites without US components."

More Stories on : Science & Technology | Foreign Relations

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page