Isro still seeks new heights to conquer
Success has become a way of life in Isro. It is assiduously sought and has been achieved incrementally with a eye on scientific and technological advancement. Isro’s latest venture in sending the heaviest satellite from an Indian launchpad is a pathbreaking project, coming after dogged efforts to overcome hurdles, including global reluctance to share space tech with India since the 1980s, with even friendly Russia armtwisted into not helping with cryogenic technology. Years after the US refused to share technology, India has painfully broken the shackles, achieving self-reliance with its monster rocket (nicknamed “Baahubali”) placing in perfect orbit its heaviest communications satellite. This is a testament to Isro’s dedicated personnel and a space programme on a scale of economy that’s an eye-opener to the world, with repeated successes in the commercial satellite launch business. To do all this in an Indian environment of pulls and pressures is an achievement by itself.
Besides savings in not having to use expensive foreign launchpads and rockets, lifting of heavy satellites with indigenous cryogenic engine technology, developed at around `300 crores over years of research, also gives us the capability to put Indians in space on a totally desi mission, though it may take at least seven years. It’s arguable whether we’re on the beaten path, but pursuit of scientific excellence in such challenging circumstances isn’t just to score points. The use of electric propulsion instead of burning chemical fuels represents progress in the competitive space business, where Elon Musk’s SpaceX has just completed a mission with a used “Dragon” space capsule, while it has 10 recovered rockets used more than once. SpaceX has just put into geostationary transfer orbit the most sophisticated communications satellite, the 6,100-kg Inmarsat, that can serve hundreds of millions of customers. So the sky’s not even the limit these days. Bigger and heavier satellites aren’t merely for show. The technology on offer leaps generational changes so quickly now that newer satellites have to be put in orbit to serve various purposes, from communications to mapping the planet to weather. One “high throughput” satellite can potentially replace six to seven small satellites while offering higher technology in transferring data on multiple frequency beams. The C25 indigenous cryogenic engine, providing the big final thrust, is the badge of honour our satellite launch missions will be harnessing for further progress. It’s a matter of pride that India is one of six nations with the cryogenic engine technology now, which has helped conquer a key frontier in rocket science. The independent path chosen — with the help, of course, of Russian engines at an experimental stage — has paid rich dividends. There are more missions ahead, like Chandrayaan-II and Aditya, and given Isro’s record, India can look forward to greater successes in space.
It’s a matter of pride that India is one of six nations with the cryogenic engine technology now, which has helped conquer a key frontier in rocket science. The independent path chosen has paid rich dividends...