According to ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath, commercial launches will now be carried out using India’s heaviest rocket, the GSLV Mk3. Two such launches are scheduled for October this year and January next year.
He said that OneWeb, a company based in the UK, has subscribed for both of these launches. This is a positive development because it would be the GSLV Mk3’s first launch on a commercial mission. Notably, India has been orbiting customer satellites primarily utilising its reliable PSLV rocket.
While the GSLV rocket can launch 4-ton class satellites into the higher orbit known as Geosynchronous Transfer orbit, the PSLV rocket can only launch satellites weighing close to 1,750 kg into Polar orbits (where strategic satellites and imaging satellites are placed) (GTO).
Somanath added that the Indian government had chosen to give NSIL ownership of ten communication satellites so that it could rent them out and make money.
In response to a question regarding the eagerly anticipated Space Policy, Somanath said that the internal review was over, the cabinet approval was still pending, and the final approval could be anticipated very soon.
He continued by saying that the goal of the Space Policy was to make it clear that businesses may build their own satellites and rockets.
‘The bill is targeted to give teeth to Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe)’ he said.
Earlier, based on what the minister in charge of India’s Department of Space had said in Parliament, WION had reported that ISRO would have six rocket launch missions in 2022. The minister, Dr Jitendra Singh, had also mentioned about GSLV Mk3 rocket having its maiden commercial flight in 2022.
Radhakrishnan, CMD, NewSpace India Limited, also said that following the space sector reforms announced in 2020, there has been a big mandate to carry out commercial launches and demand-driven missions.
In June 2022 alone, NSIL (ISRO’s commercial arm) successfully completed two missions: the GSAT-24 launch from Kourou, French Guiana, carrying a satellite for DTH service provider TataPlay, and the PSLV-C53 launch from Singapore, carrying Singaporean satellites.
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