Nine U.S. satellites to be flown from Sriharikota

August 05, 2015 05:01 am | Updated March 29, 2016 01:13 pm IST - BENGALURU:

In a small but significant progress in the chequered Indo-U.S. space equations, Indian satellite launchers will for the first time put a few U.S.-made satellites into space from Indian soil.

ISRO’s commercial venture Antrix Corporation recently signed contracts to launch nine micro and nano spacecraft separately as small co-passengers on the PSLV light-lifter during this year and next, according to information from ISRO officials.

“As on date, Antrix Corporation Ltd. has signed agreement to launch about nine nano / micro [U.S.] satellites during the 2015-2016 timeframe from the Sriharikota launch pad,” an ISRO spokesman confirmed to The Hindu without elaborating. He clarified that they were not for U.S. space agency NASA; and they would go piggyback with other satellites.

A micro satellite weighs in the band of 10-100 kg and a nano satellite in the range of one to 10 kg.

ISRO did not share the agency or agencies that have signed the launch contract; or whether they were for Earth observation, university-built spacecraft or those carrying scientific experiments of research institutions.

On Monday, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar was reported to have mentioned in Chennai that ISRO would launch its first ever U.S. spacecraft.

The U.S. contracts are seen as the first fruit of the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that the Department of Space signed with the U.S. in July 2009. The TSA leaves the door open for ISRO to launch small non-commercial or experimental spacecraft that are made in the US — or even those of other countries which contain U.S. components.

Until the TSA was signed, even that leeway was not available for ISRO which aspires to take baby bites in the big global launch service business. Most satellites made around the world use some or other U.S. components.

ISRO and the U.S. have been working at a bigger accord, the CSLA (Commercial Satellite Launch Agreement) which, when sealed, will bring in the business of launching bigger commercial Earth observation or other satellites.

ISRO’s PSLV launcher, which has done 30 flights with just one failure since 1993, has a good record and is considered low-priced and reliable for small satellites. To date, it has put into orbit 45 small and mid-sized foreign satellites of 19 nations for a fee.

Radar satellite

Another positive outcome with the U.S. is the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), signed about two years ago, to co-develop a radar imaging satellite and launch it from India around 2019-20. It will be the first synthetic aperture radar satellite in dual frequency.

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