Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said the failure of IRRNS-1H due to heat shield anomaly after the unsuccessful launch of PSlV C 39 recently will not affect the present NAVIC constellation, ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar said in Bengaluru on Friday on the side-lines of the silver jubilee of Antrix Corporation, a commercial arm of the space major the failure of IRRNS-1H will have no threat to the present system.
He said, “'there is no real threat to the current system which will continue to provide for the entire region around 1500 km of the Indian sub-continent. The only urgency that we have is that we do not have latest satellite in place.'' However he said the alternate flight with a newer satellite will take place during December 2017. ''The urgency remains but the overall system of NavIC system is now not affected. We are well within the specification that has to be provided by this constellation,'' he added.
Kumar said ISRO would resume next flight after the central committee gave its nod. It would either happen during November or December this year.
However the failure of the launch of the Indian regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS), which aims to provide space based geolocation services known as navigation with Indian constellation (NAVIC) was a setback. The launch of ISRO’s latest navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board its polar rocket on August 31 had failed in the last stage after the launch. The heat shield was not separated just before the satellite was to be put on its intended space orbit.
A S Kiran Kumar also said that Antrix had come a long way to be successful, to some extent, but there is much more to be achieved.
Speaking on the side-lines of the Silver Jubilee function of Antrix, he said there had been tremendous development in commercial space flights world over and the Indian company has huge opportunity.
''Antrix will now make major strides in launching of commercial flights of satellites in the world as there is tremendous opportunity for smaller satellites and even big when it comes to GSlV launches, that can be thought of little later,'' he said.
He however said ISRO will provide major impetus to the private Indian industry in the space sector and the strong support will continue.
''But Antrix will also have opportunities in launching all types of satellites atop PSlV, which has huge potential. We can also explore more opportunities for Antrix in GSlV MK II launches, which is now achieved, and even MK III to put heavier satellites into orbit on commercial basis,'' the ISRO Chief said.
On Make in India concept Kumar said ISRO and Antrix have felicitating the joint venture. ''We are currently working with a number of Indian (private) industries to make things happen. We are looking at private space technology industries vending to ISRO but also international companies working in space agencies.''
Despite the recent failure of the PSlV-C39 launch, Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has orders worth Rs 800 crore for the next five years.
With speculation rife about the adverse impact of the launch failure on the Indian space industry, Antrix CMD Rakesh Sashibhushan said such setbacks were a part and parcel of the space business. "Even SpaceX which was supposed to have very stable production, has suffered more serious setbacks than this. This is not a serious one. All stages have been done. Testing is being done. Demand keeps increasing. We had a meeting with our international business customers even yesterday. This won’t have any impact on Antrix orders,” he said.
With Rs 1,991 crore turnover in 2016-17, Antrix is optimistic about making a mark on the $260 billion satellite services market. Eom/blr