India, China in fierce race to cut satellite launch cost
Countries’ agencies say they can provide access to space at low price
BEIJING: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is fully prepared to compete in the global race to cut the cost of launching satellites, the agency said on Tuesday after China announced plans to bring down prices to $5,000 a kilogram.
Satellite launch prices usually aren’t made public and a Chinese official made the rare comments on plans to reduce costs at an aerospace forum in Beijing this month. Reacting to China’s plans, an Isro official said that not only is the Indian agency “competitive” but it is working to reduce the cost of access to space through new technology. The effort is to bring down launch costs to “onetenth” of what they are now, the official said.
Yang Baohua from the China Aerospace Science and Technological Corporation (CASC), a state-owned entity that develops and manufactures spacecraft and launch vehicles, said the company is “ready to provide cheaper and faster low-earth orbit rocket launches”.
The People’s Daily, the Communist Party‘s mouthpiece, quoted Yang as saying: “The price could be as low as $5,000 per kilogram and the pre-launch preparation will only need a week.”
Will Isro, known for its cost-effective model, be able to compete? “We are quite competitive,” Isro spokesperson Deviprasad Karnik said, responding to China’s plans. “As of now, India is quite competitive with regard to the prevailing global launch cost. So far, India has launched 209 satellites of nano, micro, mini, and standard size for 28 countries. There is a global move to reduce the cost of access to space to the tune of one-tenth of the prevailing one. India is also working towards that,” he said.
The cost of launching satellites using rockets of the United Launch Alliance — a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing that provides services to the US government — ranges between $14,000 a kilogram to $20,000 a kilogram. However, private launch service provider SpaceX plans to bring down costs to about $2,500 a kilogram with its partially reusable rockets.
Isro’s low prices and its high success rate have attracted foreign clients. While a satellite launch on Arianespace’s rocket costs about $100 million after subsidies, SpaceX will charge $60 million. In contrast, Isro charged an average $3 million per satellite between 2013 and 2015.
Antrix Corp Ltd, Isro’s fledgling commercial arm, is widely seen as a serious contender in the $335.5 billion global space industry, even though the launch market only brings in about 20% of the agency’s revenues. But Isro is better placed to capitalise on the new market for launching small satellites, including those which will be used for space-based, highspeed internet connections.
Karnik outlined some of the steps being taken by Isro to bring down costs. ”India is developing reusable launch vehicles. We have successfully tested a mission — RLV-TD and Scranjet -TD — in that direction, with TD standing for technology demonstrator. Efforts are on for the fullfledged development of such systems,” he said.
Karnik declined to share details of how much India charges but the fact that India has done launches for 28 countries, including Germany, Canada, The Netherlands and Israel, points toward the sharply competitive model put in place by Isro.
Karnik said the Chinese effort to reduce costs was part of a global trend. “As I have already mentioned, the global move is to reduce the cost of access to space to the tune of one-tenth of the prevailing (prices),” he said.
With six manned space missions, China’s space programme is more advanced. But that hasn’t stopped Beijing from closely tracking the commercial aspect of India’s space programme and attempting to make its own cheaper.