Commercial Satellite Launch Under Isro

By Author: Paul
Total Articles: 762

Indian Space Research Organization is not only the premier space related study and activity center for the Government and Defense services in the state but also has a commercial face in form of Antrix that works as the promoter of space products and accessories produced and developed by ISRO. Last year in 2016 the company, a public sector undertaking played vital role in launching of 10 satellites by ISRO and in conducting sponsored commercial satellite launch for clients from Europe, Middle East, and other parts of the world.

Commercial Services from Antrix and ISRO
Commercial services offered by Antrix under the overall supervision of ISRO include –
• Sale of the satellite related data;
• Leasing out INSAT/GSAT transponders;
• Marketing as well as straightforward reception of data for indigenous and overseas clients from remote sensing satellites of India; and
• All others relating to satellite launch services.
Currently they are dealing with other space research institutes like Immarsat, EADS Astirum, WorldSpace, Intelsat, and Avanti Group among others. The area of operation expands throughout Europe, Middle East, and South East Asia.

Income Generation by Antrix
Since its establishment back in the year 1992, Antrix has been earning huge revenue and the graph has been taking an upward turn consistently. The organization earned around Rs.4,408.7 crores in 2014 and around $100 million by launching 45 satellites belonging to overseas countries. It was almost 60% higher than the combined figures of 2013 and 2014 which was 28. During 2016 the same trend continued and they launched 10 satellites breaking all previous records. The services provided included both GSLV as well as PSLV launch services for the clients. Their clientele covered 13 countries across the globe. Besides revenue earning the share of profit for Antrix also continued to grow and it increased from Rs 108 crores to Rs 209 crores during 2009-16.

Commercial Satellite Launch in 2017
A big achievement for ISRO in 2017 was the launching of 104 smaller sized satellites through one single payload. It broke the previous record of launching 37 such satellites in one go by Russia. The feat was achieved by ISRO with the help of its most powerful launcher the XL variant of PSLV. This launcher was also used earlier for launching the famous Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and also Chandrayan. As per the report of the Satellite Industry Association the revenue generation by the ISRO’s satellite manufacture and services sector reached $127.4 billion in 2016 and by that time the overall profit of Antrix reached 896 crores. The organization aims to increase its annual launch of satellites to 18 and this could generate huge revenue and profits for them.

While the organization provides both PSLV as well as GSLV launch services its current emphasis is on the Polar satellite launch vehicle for commercial launches.

One of the major reasons for the commercial success of Antrix and ISRO on the face of stiff competition from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 from USA, and Proton ULA from Russia is the extremely competitive rates offered by the Indian organization. Today Antrix figures as a major force in the world space activities map.

The commercial arm of ISRO is the nodal agency for providing Launch Services for customer satellites, on-board ISRO’s operational launch vehicles. Antrix, PSLV, GSLV, PSLV launch services, GSLV Launch Services, satellite launch services, commercial satellite launch.