Ajey Lele 
On November 18, 2024, India‘s most advanced communications satellite was launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The rocket used for the launch of this satellite was the Falcon-9. This satellite – GSAT-N2 (or GSAT 20) – was put in geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). This communications satellite will provide broadband services in remote areas and in-flight Internet in passenger aircraft. Now the satellite is on its way towards geostationary orbit (36,000 km about the Earth’s surface). This satellite is a project of New Space India Limited, which is the Indian Space Research Organisation’s commercial arm.
GSAT-20’s mission life is 14 years. It has been reported that this is for the first time ISRO has built a satellite that only uses the advanced Ka band frequency, a range of radio frequencies between 27 and 40 gigahertz (GHz), which enables the satellite to have higher bandwidth.
This is the first time ISRO has used SpaceX’s services for launching a heavy satellite into GTO. For many years, ISRO used the services of Ariane Space for launching such satellites. This is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world’s first commercial launch service provider.
ISRO has an old connection with Ariane Space. Its Apple satellite was launched by the Ariane-1 launch vehicle in 1981. Subsequently, Ariane-3 and Ariane-4 vehicles were used for launching around six to seven Indian satellites during the 1980s-1990s. Since 2000, ISRO has been using the Ariane-5 for launching its heavy satellites. The notable launches were the launch of the 5854 kg GSAT-11 satellite in December 2018 and the 4181.3 kg GSAT-24 satellite in June 2022. Now, with the arrival of the Ariane-6 rocket, perhaps ISRO was not able to avail the services of this new vehicle when the requirement arose and thus opted for SpaceX.
The Falcon-9 is a partially reusable rocket and can lift up to 8,300 kg to GTO. The first launch of the Falcon-9 was in June 2010. Till date, this rocket has undertaken around 400 launches, with a 99.26% success rate. On average, the costs of a launch are about $70 million. Ariane-5 cost about $178 million per launch. But, interestingly Ariane-6’s costs are less, around $80 million per launch.
Recently, ISRO had asked a European space consulting firm, Novaspace, to undertake a ‘Socio-Economic Impact Analysis of the Indian Space Programme’. As per this report the investment made in the space programme has immensely benefited society and the economic impact of money spent in space in India has been 2.5 times the investment. The report indicates that cumulatively over the last decade the Indian space sector has stimulated the national economy to the tune of $60 billion, supported 4.7 million jobs, and boosted public funds to the tune of $24 billion in tax revenues. From ISRO’s point of view, there would have been additional savings during the last few decades, if it did not have to depend on outside agencies for launching their heavy satellites.
ISRO’s inability to develop a heavy satellite launch vehicle is actually impacting the progress of India’s space programme. Money saving is only one aspect, but what is more concerning is that the inability to carry heavy payloads in higher orbits limits ISRO’s capabilities in various fields. For example, they can undertake missions to the Moon and Mars, but such missions mostly remain as technology demonstration missions. ISRO did carry a few scientific payloads during these missions and during the first mission to the Moon (2008) was able to identify the presence of water on the Moon. However, they had major limitations in regards to payload carrying capability and hence could undertake very limited scientific experimentation. The Mars and Chandrayaan-3 missions cost around $75 million each. However, the total weight of the payload for the Mars mission was 15 kg and the rover which operated on the lunar surface was 26 kg in weight. This has restricted much of our scientific experimentation.
Development of heavy satellite launch vehicles is one arena where ISRO has been struggling for many years. ISRO has had a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) program in place for more than two decades. Since 2001, ISRO has undertaken few launches by using the GSLV Mk I system. GSLV Mk II has been used for undertaking space launches to GTO since 2010. This vehicle can carry up to 2,250 kg payload to GTO and till date more than 10 launches have taken place. However, the process to develop the next version of this vehicle has been very slow. GSLV-Mk III which is also known as LMV Mk-III is known to be capable of launching 4-ton (4000 kg) class satellites to GTO. In June 2017, GSLV-Mk III-D1, the first developmental flight of this vehicle, launched a 3136 kg GSAT-19 satellite and in November 2018, the 3,423 kg GSAT 29 was launched. All this indicates that for launching modern commutations (and weather) satellites – which are mostly in the 4 to 6-ton class – ISRO still has to depend on other agencies.
India requires a heavy satellite launcher for scientific, commercial and strategic reasons. For long, ISRO faced challenges due to sanctions, particularly from the US, which prevented the transfer of critical cryogenic engine technology for launchers from Russia. It took ISRO a significant amount of time to indigenously operationalise this technology. Another crucial area for enhancing the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) system is semi-cryogenic technology, which ISRO has been working on for several years.
The key question now is whether ISRO has its priorities in order. Over the years, ISRO has achieved significant success by innovating and making efficient use of available resources. However, there is a limit to what can be achieved by merely modifying and refining existing technologies. The US, Russia, China, the European Space Agency, and even private players like SpaceX remain dominant in the space arena due to significant investment in the development of a wide range of launch vehicles.
While ambitious goals such as sending an Indian astronaut to the Moon, establishing an Indian space station, and planning a mission to Venus are commendable, these missions are likely to remain technology demonstrations rather than breakthroughs in space science. The global community will undoubtedly celebrate ISRO’s achievements, and there will be a sense of national pride. However, one must ask: how much substantial contribution to science (technology) can these missions make on a global scale? India’s first mission to the Moon in 2008 was followed by the second mission in 2019, with a gap of more than 10 years. We have conducted just one mission to Mars in 2014. India wants to become the third nation to land on Mars and undertake helicopter flying there as was done by NASA. However, there is not much clarity about when this mission would take place. Now, ISRO is planning a sample return mission from the Moon, which is indeed a positive step forward. But the ability to plan such missions is constrained by the limitations of our launcher systems. The age of only demonstrating capabilities is over. What is important is the value addition an agency can make to existing knowledge about the Moon and Mars.
The question arises: has ISRO spread itself too thin? Are they doing too many things together? Shouldn’t the organization first focus on mastering the fundamentals before venturing into highly ambitious goals?
Many years ago, India’s former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam argued that the country’s innovations were suffering from a “fifth-nation syndrome”. He pointed out that India has often been seen as the fourth or fifth nation to contribute new ideas, whether in space exploration or nuclear technology. If ISRO aims to be a true global leader, it must move beyond this syndrome and aim for the top. This is only possible if ISRO develops the capacity to undertake heavy satellite launches.
Ajey Lele researches space issues and is the author of the book Institutions That Shaped Modern India: ISRO. He is Deputy Director General at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.
This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.