ISRO open doors to private sector

ISRO open doors to private sector

Context

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently issued a tender to the private industry for Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) of 30-35 satellites.

How would the tendering be done?

• ISRO has issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) to the private industry to build 30-35 satellites over three years.
• Under this, 4-5 companies would be selected after evaluation and awarded parallel contracts.
• They would be responsible for the AIT of satellites at ISRO facilities.
• Private industries first would get training at the facilities of ISRO, in the next step they will build their own facilities after gaining enough expertise

Why this arrangement?

• ISRO currently launches 3-4 launches per year but the demand is for 16-18 satellites.
• ISRO is planning to launch 58 satellites in the next 3-4 years.
• In-house capacity of ISRO is limited. So it is looking to offload 30-40% of the work to the private sector.