Buying a mature rocket technology gives companies the designs and hardware know-how, but not necessarily the decades of engineering wisdom needed to make it work.
The larger question raised by the associations is simple: If ISRO is no longer to manufacture launch vehicles, what will happen to the institution's accumulated capabilities and the people who built them?
Nine employee associations at ISRO have written to Chairperson V Narayanan, seeking official clarification on the proposed transfer of manufacturing and operational functions to private entities. They raised concerns about ISRO's future role, employee consequences, and recruitment, following comments by IN-SPACe chairperson Pawan Goenka regarding ISRO's eventual exit from launch vehicle manufacturing.
A rocket designed and developed by ISRO is being transferred to industry for production.
Nine ISRO associations want to know whether this is simply an effort to expand India's industrial capacity or part of a larger policy under which ISRO itself will eventually withdraw from rocket manufacturing.
'He didn't touch upon the core questions raised by the nine employee associations.'
'It is not economical to operate GSLV-Mk II due to its cost and complexity. Future launches to be managed with LVM3.'
There is no answer to the question of how IN-SPACe invited EOIs for ISRO's mature rockets and whether it was based on any government policy decision.
State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has won a bid under which it will receive technology from the Indian Space Research Organisation for the end-to-end commercial production of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), a first for the industry as India seeks to become a global hub for small satellite manufacturing and launches.
The EoI comes at a time when ISRO is working to enhance LVM3's payload capacity to five tonnes in GTO and is also evaluating the procurement of a Russian semi-cryogenic engine for the vehicle's second stage.
The appointment comes as Agnikul prepares for Mission 02, a flight that will attempt, for the first time on Indian soil, the recovery of an orbital-class rocket booster and the extension of a rocket's upper stage into an on-orbit platform.
A high-level committee investigating the failures of ISRO's PSLV rockets, which have impacted strategic satellite missions, has yet to release its report and recommendations, raising concerns about the future of the ageing launch vehicle.
India's move to privatise PSLV rocket production through IN-SPACe has triggered debate over national security, ageing technology and the agency's role.
ISRO's first mission in 2023 and SSLV's sequel saw a strange coincidence--it was launched at 9.18 am, the same time its predecessor lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here on August 7, 2022 but could not deliver due to orbit anomaly and flight path deviation.
These upcoming launches carry added significance in light of setbacks suffered in recent years.
The SSLV is designed to be affordable and amenable to industry production and aimed to function as a launch-on-demand platform for mini, micro or nano satellites.
ISRO has announced plans for seven launch missions by March, including the first uncrewed mission for the Gaganyaan project and demonstrations of new satellite technologies.
India is set to take its first steps towards its own human space flight when the uncrewed Gaganyaan mission soars to the skies later this year. Private players in the space sector are also gearing up for launching satellites on home-built rockets.
On Sunday morning, in its mission to place an earth observation satellite and students satellite into the low earth orbit, the SSLV-D1/EOS-02 blasted off precisely at 9.18 am amid cloudy skies from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in this spaceport.
The Department of Space (DoS) plans to realise entirely-built rockets -- GSLV-Mk III and SSLV -- from Indian industry partners, in addition to PSLV, according to a top official of its commercial arm NSIL.
The Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday faced a blip in its plan to tap the small satellite launch vehicle market, as an anomaly in the placing of the satellites by the rocket led to deviation on its path thereby becoming 'no longer usable', Chairman S Somanath said on Sunday.
The heaviest communication satellite to be launched from the Indian soil onboard a new generation, homegrown 'Bahubali' rocket was successfully placed into the intended orbit on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
'The LVM3 rocket will orbit one Block 2 BlueBird satellite in Low Earth Orbit.'
ISRO chairman announces plans for nine major launches by the end of the fiscal year, including the Blue Bird Block2 communication satellite for the US in collaboration with NASA.
India took another leap in space infrastructure with the foundation stone laid for a new launch pad at the country's second rocket port in Kulasekarapattinam.
The fuel cost will come down if rockets are launched from Kulasekarapattinam as they will have a straight trajectory and need not have to avoid Sri Lanka, which is being done by rockets flown from Sriharikota.
'The launch of Nila, our very first satellite was very emotional as well as nerve wracking. We tried to calm ourselves by cracking some poor jokes!'
The Indian government has approved the construction of a third launch pad at Sriharikota, capable of sending heavier spacecraft into orbit. This new facility will support India's ambitious space program, including the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and a lunar landing. The launch pad will be built at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and is expected to be operational within four years.
'Our vision for the future includes the creation of an active ecosystem, human space flight, a human space station.'
AzaadiSAT had around 75 small payloads developed by schoolgirls of 75 rural schools.
ISRO's vendor policy and quality control processes are under scanner.
As many as 23 companies have evinced interest in acquiring the Indian space agency's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle technology, said a top official who termed it a "tremendous response". Chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) Pawan K Goenka said on Thursday that they are keen to see how the private sector uses the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology. "There has been a tremendous response, 23 companies have (so far) shown interest in applying for this technology.
If it becomes a reality, the Chennai-based company will become the first private player from India to conduct such a mission to the lunar surface.
At 6.23 am on 29.1.2025, the 50.9 metre tall and weighing 420.7 ton Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F15 (GSLV-F15) is slated to blast off from the second launch pad carrying the 2,250 kg NVS-02 navigation satellite.
The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched its 100th mission on Wednesday, with a GSLV rocket carrying navigation satellite NVS-02.
In a boost to the space programme, the government on Wednesday approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission to bring back moon rocks to earth, to send a spacecraft to orbit planet Venus and to expand the Gaganyaan project to build an Indian space station.
After the historic success of its Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going full throttle with its plans to send Indian astronauts for the first time to the Moon by 2040, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said.
The payload sent into the upper reaches of the atmosphere were recovered after it splashed into the sea.
'With India's growing capabilities in the space sector, this creates promising opportunities for enhanced collaboration and market access.'
Only three countries (United States, Russia and China) have successfully landed spacecraft on the airless lunar surface.
More and more women are making their presence felt in jobs related to sciences, technology, and engineering across organisations.
