Sci-tech blog: India’s space diplomacy and nanosatellites

The race to space is on. For years, it was about showcasing technological superiority of having an eye in the sky in the form of satellites orbiting the earth. On May 5, 2017, the space also became a stratospheric platform for diplomacy with the launch of India’s South Asia Satellite, connecting most of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations except Pakistan, which opted out.

While China’s massive One Belt One Road (OBOR) project would cost anywhere between $4 to $8 trillion, besides burdening most participating nations with Chinese loans, the SAARC satellite (also known as GSAT-9) is India's gift to its neighbours. Built at a paltry sum of ₹235 crore (approximately $37 million), the communication satellite is also far more cost-effective. The only catch is that each country has to develop its own ground infrastructure technology. Even here, India has offered to extend assistance.

Though one cannot strictly compare the scope of the two initiatives, it signals an important mission by India – to bring its neighbours into a friendlier embrace with a gift. It has, no doubt, succeeded in scoring a diplomatic victory and grabbed international headlines.

A few months ago, by launching 104 satellites carried by a single rocket, ISRO had the world’s attention riveted on its technical competence, underscored by the fact that a majority of these were satellites from other countries including the US. Coming in the wake of a much publicised $74-million Mars mission last year, ISRO is surely lighting up the sky above us.

The space has already become the hottest frontier for business, with American aerospace company SpaceX successfully launching reusable rockets, thereby drastically cutting down the cost of launch per kilogram. This is sure to give ISRO a tough competition in the coming days, but as of now, the Indian agency has an upper hand in terms of costs. While the cost of launching a satellite aboard the Falcon-9 rocket of SpaceX goes as low as $60 million, the average cost of ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket is no more than a third of Falcon-9’s.

To become a stronger force in the space business, India has to overcome a major hurdle. India‘s PSLV can launch satellites up to a weight of only 1,800 kg. And the currently operational Mk-II version of the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) can handle payloads weighing 2,500 kg. The GSLV's Mk-III, now under development, will be capable of launching satellites weighing close to 5,000 kg.

Rocket Lab

India is lucky that the market for nanosatellites, some even the size of a soda can, weighing no more than 5 kg, is picking up. A joint US-New Zealand startup, Rocket Lab, aims to cut satellite launch costs by as much as 91%. Using a rocket consisting of 3D-printed parts, Rocket Lab intends to put small satellites weighing as much as 100 kg into orbit above the Earth, all for a price of $4.9 million per launch. Depending on the type and size of a payload, most launches these days are upwards of $50 million.

Satellite launches would become even more important, with companies like Facebook and Google planning to use satellites to beam Internet to the world. Apple recently hired John Fenwick, who was the head of Google’s spacecraft operations, and Michael Trela, who was Fenwick’s co-worker and head of satellite engineering, signalling its plans to make foray in space business. ISRO, too, is experimenting with a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), though its recent testing of such a vehicle was not successful.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, it might be worthwhile for ISRO to forge alliances with the likes of SpaceX, Google, or Facebook, to conquer space. ISRO has demonstrated strong technological capabilities, riding on which India could do what it did in Information Technology (IT) outsourcing in satellite launches. That is the next phase that ISRO needs to get into. But to do that, the space agency might need a different strategy.