ISRO mulls launching 65 satellites for a slew of uses 

ISRO mulls launching 65 satellites for a slew of uses 

Context

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has set itself an ambitious to-do list of making and launching around 65 satellites for a slew of uses. They are planned to be realised over the period from 2017 to 2021, according to a top official

They are planned to be realised over the period from 2017 to 2021

• This post-12th Five-Year Plan pace is stupendous as the number of satellites made in India over the last 40-odd years hit a century only a few days ago.
• The last three, including two small ones, were rolled out of its Bengaluru centre in late December and are slated to be launched this month

Jump in output

The new goal puts ISAC’s annual asking rate at around 18 satellites a year: ISAC would now need to come out with three satellites every two months.

Old Output

Since ISAC was set up in 1972 and until a few years ago, this used to be its average yearly output.

Varied purposes

• ISAC’s spacecraft are meant for communication, navigation and Earth observation (EO), for both general and strategic purposes, while new emerging applications are getting added
• In the four-year list, ISAC counts 26 for communication, 28 for EO and seven for navigation besides the scientific missions Aditya-L1 and XPoSat, apart from a few small experimental satellites.

Awaiting approval

A few proposals made during 2017 are awaiting approval

A satellite launch costs ₹200-₹300 crore depending on its size and the level of technology.

Outsourcing to Indian industries

• ISAC started to outsource some of the large and critical activities of satellite assembly and testing to Indian industry
• The second such project for the ninth navigation satellite, IRNSS-1I, is under way at an ISAC campus.
• ISRO expected industry to give them the additional six satellites a year beyond the 12 that they would build.