ISRO’s upcoming experiments for 2023 include a dedicated mission to the Sun and Moon

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will focus on scientific experimentation in 2023 with dedicated missions to the Sun – Aditya – and the Moon – Chandrayaan-3, even as the burgeoning start-up sector in the space applications segment surges. The coming year will also witness a series of experiments on India’s first manned spaceflight – the Gaganyaan project – with the first unmanned mission expected in the last quarter of 2023 to test the performance of the human-rated launch vehicle, orbital module propulsion system, to validate and recovery operations.

ISRO Further plans to conduct the first runway landing experiment (RLV-LEX) of the reusable launch vehicle early next year from the Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka’s Chitradurga, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh told parliament this month.

Indian start-ups who marked their arrival with the suborbital flight of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-S rocket, the first by a private company, and the launch of Pixxel’s Shakuntala hyperspectral satellite SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in April and Anand aboard ISRO’s PSLV in November.

Skyroot Aerospace, which launched India’s first privately developed rocket in November, plans to put a customer satellite into orbit sometime next year, while Agnikul Cosmos, a start-up company founded at the IIT Madras campus, does the same planned the test flight of his company’s highly customizable Agnibaan missile.

“We are developing six commercial hyperspectral imaging satellites that will be ready for launch next year,” Awais Ahmed, Pixxel co-founder and CEO, told PTI.

Ahmed said many more rocket companies around the world will make their first orbital launches, leading to a rocket-themed Game of Thrones while vying for the same group of customers who send satellites into space.

Eyeing the country’s huge market for space applications, which used to be ISRO’s only domain, the startups carved a niche for themselves in earth imaging, developed rockets to launch small satellites, designed cheaper propellants for satellites, and even planned tourists on take a space trip.

“The potential for innovative space applications is immense, especially when established aerospace companies partner with companies that have not traditionally ventured into orbit, such as pharmaceutical and agricultural companies,” said Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Chief Financial Officer of DhruvaSpace, opposite PTI.

DhruvaSpace had launched two Thybolt 1 & 2 satellites aboard ISRO’s PSLV C-54 mission, demonstrating the ability to conduct amateur satellite communications, which will support amateur radio operations.

Surapureddy said DhurvaSpace has already secured its first commercial contract worth Rs 20 crore to build satellites.

“The number of space startups in India has already surpassed 100 and these startups have raised more than US$245.35 million (approximately Rs. 2,000 rupees),” Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA) said PTI.

Agnikul also inaugurated its first launch pad and mission control center at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.

In 2022, the industry saw some major milestones when NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) the space conglomerate formed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was awarded a Rs. 860 crore contract for the commercial development of the next five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV’s).

OneWeb has also contracted the services of the ISRO launch vehicle to launch 36 satellites into low Earth orbit from Sriharikota. A follow-up launch of another 36 satellites is expected next year.

ISRO’s OneWeb contract is said to be the result of an aggressive Indian bid after the Ukraine conflict knocked out Russian space capabilities.

Chaitanya Giri, space adviser at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, compares the aggression in India’s space sector to that of Sourav Ganguly’s cricket team.

“Our previous approach was like the cricket team run by Mohammad Azharuddin – very gentle and gentlemanly. The newfound aggression stems from India’s rising geopolitical stature. In addition, the Russian market has become a no-go due to the Ukraine conflict. The same applies to the Chinese market. Now it’s Advantage India,” Giri told PTI.

He said Indian startups should also compete for international deals and not look to ISRO for business.

“ISRO is not an entity that runs the business for them. Indian start-ups, MSMEs and large space companies have to make business agreements with each other. These B-2-B arrangements need to grow,” Giri said.