Awaiting lift-off into the Second Space Age

Source- The post is based on the article “Awaiting lift-off into the Second Space Age” published in “The Hindu” on 10th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Awareness in the field of space

News– The article exp-lains the changing nature of the space sector.

What are some facts about the first space age?

The Space Age began in 1957 with the launch of satellite Sputnik 1. In 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the world’s first person in space.

The period was dominated by the Cold War. Between the 1950s to 1991, 60 to 120 space launches took place annually and 93% of these were by the United States and the erstwhile USSR governments.

What have been the important developments in the space sector in India?

India made a modest entry into the First Space Age in the 1960s. The first sounding rocket was launched at Thumba in 1963.

In 1969, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was set up. It has over 15,000 employees and an annual budget between ₹12,000 crore-₹14,000 crore in recent years.

Its first major project was the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE). It involved leasing a U.S. satellite in 1975-76 for educational outreach.

Satellite technology was a new mass communication tool. This led to the INSAT series in the 1980s, followed by GSAT. It provided the backbone for the country’s tele-communication and broadcasting infrastructure.

This was followed by remote sensing capability development. It includes the use of space-based imagery for weather forecasting, resource mapping of forests, analysing agricultural yields, groundwater and watersheds, fisheries and urban management.

There is now focus on Oceansat and Cartosat series. The field of satellite-aided navigation emerged later. It began with GAGAN, a joint project between ISRO and the Airports Authority of India.

GAGAN aim is to augment Global Positioning System coverage of the region, to improve air traffic management over Indian airspace. This has now been expanded to a regional navigation satellite system called Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

In parallel came the development of satellite launch capabilities. Beginning with the SLV-1 in the 1980s. ISRO has developed the PSLV series that has become its workhorse with over 50 successful launches.

What are various facts about the second space age?

The origins of the Second Space Age can be traced to the Internet.

The last 15 years witnessed another transformation. The mobile telephony, followed by smartphones has led to drastic changes. Broadband, OTT and now 5G promise a double-digit annual growth in demand for satellite-based services.

It is dominated by the private sector. In terms of the end-user revenue, only a fifth is generated by the government. The growing role of the private sector is also evident in the numbers and ownership of satellites. According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, there are 8,261 satellites in orbit, of which nearly 5,000 are active.

Till 2010, about 60 to 100 satellites were launched annually. In 2020, 1283 satellites were launched. Today, Starlink operates a constellation of over 3,500 satellites and has a million paying customers.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon has launched Project Kuiper to bring low-latency broadband connectivity around the globe.

The Indian private sector is responding to the demands of the Second Space Age. From less than a dozen space start-ups five years ago, there are over 100 today.

The pace of investment is growing. From $3 million in 2018, it doubled in 2019 and crossed $65 million in 2021.

What are various achievements of ISRO in terms of satellites?

Today, ISRO manages four to five launches annually. It manages 53 operational satellites – 21 for communication, 21 for earth observation, eight for navigation and the remaining as scientific experimental satellites.

ISRO has missions such as Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and Gaganyaan. ISRO has always been an open organisation that has worked closely with the Indian private sector.

ISRO today is the operator, user, service provider, licensor, rule maker and also an incubator.

What is the government response to changes in the space sector?

In 2017, the government introduced the first draft Space Activities Bill in Parliament but it lapsed in 2019.

There has been talk of commercialising the PSLV and SSLV launch services and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) was set up to replace Antrix.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) was set up in 2020 as a single-window-clearance for the private sector. An Indian Space Association (ISpA) was created as an industry association.

In recent years, a series of policy papers have been circulated for discussion. It includes telecom policy, an earth observation policy and a foreign direct investment policy.

What is the way forward for the space sector in India?

The start-ups in the space sector are different. Their revenue stream depends on space-related activities. They need a different relationship with ISRO and the government.

Now, there is a need for legislation for the space sector. It will help to set up a regulatory authority and create an enabling environment for raising venture capital funding into the Indian space start-up industry.