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The Rediff Interview/Dr K Kasturirangan

'We are absolutely on schedule with our plans'

T he Indian space programme, under the chairmanship of Dr K Kasturirangan, is in a particularly upbeat phase of its existence. Its satellite launcher is working well, and so are its satellites. Now, ISRO is all set to enter the next era of its existence, namely that of commercialisation. Despite setbacks caused by American sanctions, these space men have found other markets for their services. They are also seriously at work developing the next level of launcher, the Geo-Stationary Launch Vehicle, which will enable them to launch heavier satellites, and straightaway put them into the global launcher services sale marketplace.

M D Riti spoke to Dr Rangan, as he is known in ISRO, at his spacious office in Antariksh Bhavan in Bangalore about his business plans for a heavily-funded national programme, which has always aimed at self-reliance and nationalistic objectives more than monetary returns.

How is INSAT-2E, which is now almost ready for launch, different from the rest of the INSAT-2 category of satellites?

It is the last of the second generation of INSATs. It has provision for all the services offered by this category of satellites, namely telecommunications, television broadcasting and meteorology. But the important difference is for broadcasting, we have transponders with a much greater outreach than other.

The second difference is that 11 transponders have been leased to INTELSAT: this is the first time that we have leased transponders commercially. Thirdly, we have introduced a special water vapour channel to provide an improved way of looking at water vapour as well as a charged coupling device to provide a one kilometre resolution to cloud pictures.

Is INTELSAT's decision to hire your transponders a vote of confidence in ISRO's reliability and capability?

Yes, of course, as INTELSAT is one of the most demanding customers in today's telecommunications market. They operate about 20-22 satellites, built by leading satellite manufacturers from around the world like Hughes and Lockheed Martin. Obviously we can benchmark them as a customer who would expect the best in terms of reliability and capability.

So far you have always said that the entire capacity of the INSATs is required to satisfy Indian needs. Is our need for foreign exchange now greater than Indian telecom and other needs?

No, foreign exchange was never a big consideration, Indian needs always come first. We already have about 70 transponders in space catering to our needs and by the early part of the next century, we should have about 120 transponders in space meeting our own needs and those of private operators in this country. We will also be replacing our satellites like INSAT 1A and 1D, which now need to be phased out. Commercial activity is a part of our long term plan. The INTELSAT lease comes as a part of that. However, if any conflict arises between our commercial commitments and our national needs, we will only try to augment our capabilities, not let our clients down. Our commitment to customers certainly will not suffer. What are your plans to commercialise your launch facilities?

Our first commercial launch will be next summer, with PSLV-C2. This will also be our first multiple satellite launch. We have had three successful flights of PSLV now, since its design and development have been completed. These consecutive successes have caught the interest of potential customers who wish to put satellites into orbit.

Our first two commercial agreements are to launch two small satellites next March: a Kidsat weighing 150 kg from South Korea and a Tupsat weighing 45 kg from Germany. These will go on the PSLV-C2, which will already be carrying our own Oceansat, but will have extra weight capacity in its payload.

Another major area where we can sell our launch facilities is in sending up LEOSATs (low earth orbit satellites) or communication satellites in the class of Iridium and Global Star, which have a turnaround time of 6-8 months.

What are you pricing your launch services at?

We will certainly offer a satisfactory and competitive price, but It's difficult to estimate just what that will be as of now, as we are just getting into the market. We are just trying to draw up pricing schedules ourselves now. There are different weight categories of satellites as well, and the price would also depend upon the number of satellites being carried in a particular launch, their weight and so on.

The current market price for launching satellites like Tupsat or Kidsat is about a million dollars. We are far lower, as this would be our first multiple satellite launch.

Do you have a contract with the French space agency Arianespace to hire out your launch facilities as well?

Yes, Arianespace can now use our PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle) to send up small satellites, when they are unable to launch them through their own vehicles like Ariane 4. They did discuss the possibility of such an arrangement with the Russians, but they never actually launched satellites through them. If they use us, it might be the first time they have hired an outside agency for their launches.

The idea is to manifest a family of vehicles over the coming years that will together be able to launch all the satellites needed for our global use. The Launchsat company will manifest the vehicles under the name of the producer countries.

How many commercial launches will you have in a year?

It all depends on the demand. We might limit it to one or two launches a year. We have a certain capacity that we have established for our own use, and we are only offering for sale whatever additional facilities above what we need ourselves. Commercialisation is likely to remain on a small scale at present unless industry comes forward to collaborate with us, as selling is not a priority for us.

Do you propose to make and sell whole satellites, instead of satellite services only?

We have the capability to build all sizes of satellites, but we have not started manufacturing them for sale yet. Unless we have a customer, there is no point in making them. We can, for example, easily make LEO satellites that offer communication services like messaging.

What is the status of the GSLV?

Work is in progress. We completed two tests of the liquid strap-on stages this year. Hardware realisation is almost 70-80 per cent. We are planning for a test flight in the middle of next year.

Do you think the Americans are just finding excuses to boycott the Indian space programme because they feel commercially threatened, now that you are ready to sell your launch services and satellites globally at low prices? Everyone knows that the Americans pressurised the Russians to back out of their promise to transfer cryogenic engine development technology to India.

I do not believe that they are actually feeling threatened. They know quite clearly by now that we are a programme driven by our national needs and not commerce. Our space services are meant purely for national development, and this will be obvious to anyone who has seen how we use our launch vehicle services and INSAT systems.

The first cryo engine has now been handed over by the Russians.

Yes. Six more are to arrive.

What is the status of research in the development of our own indigenous cryo engines?

Developments are moving satisfactorily. The whole idea is to ensure that by the early part of the next century, we have our own cryo stages for the upper stage of the GSLV. We are absolutely on schedule with our plans now.

Dr Abdul Kalam has declared publicly that the indigenous cryo engine should be ready in two years.

Yes, the first developmental flight of our own cryo should be by the year 2001. We are tackling the challenges of dealing with cold liquid propellants like liquid hydrogen and oxygen. There are certain developments like the turbo pump, which are very complex, and we are in the process of mastering them.

Should not public statements on important issues like cryo engine development come from you and not others like Dr Kalam who are no longer even formally connected with the space programme? Is it because you never speak out in public unless its strictly necessary?

Anyone in this country is free to comment about anything he or she likes. Their remarks do not disturb me in any way.

What is the impact of the nuclear tests and the subsequent American sanctions on your negotiations with the US to sale satellites and launch services?

Ongoing arrangements like the supply of certain type of items to Hughes are continuing. It is the technology assistance component of our dealings, such as clarifying certain technologies, which have ceased. They will only give us a yes or no answer to all the systems we are supplying. This no longer matters as we ourselves have now reached a level of maturity in the development and fabrication of our systems. We continue to supply certain types of valves, hinges and transducers to the US.

Should our defence and space programmes be further delinked, so that other countries do not target space research for sanctions and boycotts?

I cannot see why there should be any confusion of identities over this issue. We are very blatantly a civilian programme driven by national needs. Frankly, though, we don't care too much what other countries think about our real agenda because we are clear about our objectives and are quite occupied fulfilling them.

The Rediff Interviews

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