Bangalore, Jan 06: Indian Space Research
Organisation will launch four foreign satellites this year as
it seeks to make further inroads into the international
satellite-building and launch services market in 2009.
Two weeks ago, communication satellite, W2M, built by
ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of
Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5
launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in
French Guiana.
Managing director of Antrix Corporation Ltd, the
commercial arm of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, KR Sridhara
Murthy, said the Indian space agency is gearing up to launch
four satellites of Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and
Algeria. (These contracts were bagged by ISRO independently
and not in partnership with EADS-Astrium).
"We have four commitments for Singapore, the
Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. We want to complete it in
2009," he said. "It (the four spacecraft)
is a mix of nano and small satellites".
Contractual obligations bar ISRO from talking about
specific launch price but Sridhara Murthy said that the
space agency`s charge per kg of satellite (to be launched) is
around Euro 20,000 per kg, quite cheaper than prevailing
International prices.
But, he stressed that the launch price is guided by
competition, market conditions and demand-supply scenario.
W2M project was undertaken in the context of an accord
between Antrix, to jointly build and deliver the satellite to
Eutelsat Communications, a global satellite communications
provider based in Paris.
Astrium had the responsibility for overall programme
management and delivery of the communications payload and
Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite and also performed W2M`s
integration and testing at ISRO`s facilities here.
W2M satellite, weighing 3,463 kg at lift-off, is the
heaviest satellite built by ISRO and is capable of operating
for over 15 years. The satellite`s solar panels generate a
maximum of about 7000 Watts of power.
Sridhara Murthy said Antrix and EADS/Astrium are now
pursuing three-four satellite-building proposals, similar to
their W2M venture. "Discussions are at a reasonably good
stage," he said.
"We (Antrix and EADS/Astrium) are looking at various
opportunities where people are trying to procure satellites
(to be built) in the two to three tonne category which is our
capability", he said.
Sridhara Murthy said that in a technologically evolving
scenario, ISRO`s effort is to make its satellites more power
and weight efficient; and pack more payloads without
increasing the weight of the satellite.
He noted that while ISRO typically looked at solar
panels of its satellites generating a maximum of five kilo
watts or six kilo watts of power, in W2M it exceeded seven
kilo watts.
Bureau Report
