India’s space agency moves SSLV to private sector
July 10, 2023
India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to transfer its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) rocket launcher to the private sector.
ISRO already has a commercial arm (NewSpace India) which took over responsibility for selling access to space in March 2019 and selling services to non-India clients. NewSpace India, wholly government owned, took over responsibility from Antrix which had become mired in controversy and alleged corruption.
ISRO is targeting much greater use of the SSLV and is expected launch cadence to rise to about 10 missions a year by 2026 and bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for the operation.
The India space agency has decided to opt for the bidding route to transfer the mini-rocket to the industry, a senior official is quoted as saying in the Indian press. “We will be transferring the SSLV completely to the private sector. Not just the manufacturing, but full transfer,” the official said.
In a March 2023 interview, Radhakrishnan Durairaj, chairman and managing director of NSIL, said the state-run company has built three SSLV rockets so far, and the success of the first rocket earlier this year has led it to approach commercial clients for satellite launch contracts.
“We are presently reaching out to commercial clients that we have already worked with, to understand the kind of market demand that we will garner. By 2025, we expect to launch around five to seven missions through the SSLV, which can increase to around eight to 10 missions within another year,” Durairaj said. He added that NSIL was already in talks with private sector firms to boost production capacity of SSLV rockets.
SSLV is not a giant rocket and should not be compared to the Falcon 9’s of Elon Musk, or the Ariane 6 being developed by Arianespace. It would, however, compete with the Bega-family of Arianespace launchers. Specifically, it can handle payloads of some 500 kgs to low Earth orbit.
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