The Indian space industry is of a similar age as that of the United States, China, or the Russian Federation (and its Soviet heritage). A difference is that it is nearly-entirely Indian-built. Both the United States and Soviet Union were able to jump-start their programs with German equipment, engineers, or both. The Chinese were able to initially lean on early Soviet technology. India, on the other hand, did not seek external technology until the 1990s - and even then, has gone on to continue focusing on nationally-developed rocket designs.
At this point, the Indian space industry is beginning to take the same turn that both the United States and Chinese space programs have taken, with an increased commercial component, and national interest programs reaching beyond Low-Earth Orbit in a sustained manner, alongside plans for a sustained human presence in space. How did this all start, where are they now, and what happened in-between?
Origin story
In 1961, after the realization that rocket development, space science, and other aspects of nascent international space research could be of benefit to the young nation of India, the government of Prime Minister Nehru added this additional focus to the nationally-strategic Department of Atomic Energy. The following year, the leader of the Department of Atomic Energy helped organize a separate, more-focused, organization under scientist Vikram Sarabhai called the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). INCOSPAR took on the space science and rocket development activities. It was part of a flagship national research center, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Towards the ends for which it was organized, INCOSPAR began assembling the elements of a launcher development program, including development of suborbital sounding rockets to learn the principles of propulsion and rocket bodies, and a spaceport to launch them from: Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state.
INCOSPAR began development of the sub-orbital sounding rocket called Rohini, relying on solid-fueled motors developed by experienced armaments staff from the Indian Army. This rocket developed into a family of sounding rockets, first taking flight from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in 1967.
ISRO and the birth of a state-owned space industry
In 1969 INCOSPAR was renamed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), before being moved back into the Department of Atomic Energy. In 1972, however, ISRO was moved under a newly-formed Department of Space in the Indian government, gaining more prominence. From there onward, ISRO began a steady series of achievements, one building on another as they built-up a state-owned launcher manufacturing base and then a strong national-interest space program.
In 1969, ISRO also began a process to add an additional spaceport to their launch infrastructure. This resulted in the selection of an additional site nearby Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on the southeastern coast of India. Construction at the new Satish Dhawan Space Centre was completed in 1971, at which point it became operational. It first supported sounding rocket launches, before providing the launch site for the first Satellite Launch Vehicle launch (read on for more on the SLV).
ISRO built their first satellite in the mid-1970s, called Aryabhata. This was launched by the Soviet Union 1975, under the Interkosmos program for international space cooperation. The Soviet Union and India at this time enjoyed good relations.
A practical approach to scaling launcher capability
From the 1970s through the present, ISRO has worked to progressively improve Indian national launch capacity, supporting national interest launches and commercial launch customers. At this time, ISRO represents an important pillar of the launch services industry.
1972 also saw the first work on what would become the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), being developed by ISRO-associated enterprises. Its propulsion heritage followed that of the Rohini sounding rockets, using four solid-fueled stages. This was what would today be classified as a micro-lift launcher, capable of 40-kg to Low-Earth Orbit (take a look at the linked article below for more on this launch vehicle classification).
For those taking notes, India followed a similar propulsion heritage on their early launchers as the Chinese did, working with the solid-fuel propulsion they would have been developing experience with in their armaments industry. The first SLV launch attempt in 1979 was unsuccessful. However, the 1980 launch was successful, followed by two more launches before the launcher was retired in 1983 - with mixed success overall.
Following the mixed success of the SLV, work began on a small-lift launcher, turning into what became the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV). It had a very elongated design that created a challenging flight profile and staging process. After four launches it was retired.
Even before SLV had been rolled out the launch pad, and while the ASLV was being developed, work on a medium-lift launcher was begun by ISRO in 1978. This would lead to what would become the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which first flew in 1993. This medium-lift launcher supports launch trajectories into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and Sun-Synchronous Orbit, as well (one of the goals of the project).
The PSLV has a configuration that might seem cobbled-together in its many unique differences, but has been very successful. This unique arrangement includes one of the world’s largest solid-fueled motors as a first-stage, a hypergolic second-stage, a solid-fueled third-stage, a hypergolic fourth-stage (with different fuels from the second-stage), and solid-fueled strap-on boosters. With 57 out of 60 launches completely successful, it remains in service for both international commercial customers and Indian national-interest launches. Flight rate is constrained not by demand, but by manufacturing.
While the PSLV was a capable launcher, with the ability to deliver smaller satellites to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, ISRO aimed to create an Indian capacity for larger satellites to GTO. They began work on developing this launcher in 1990. As with the PSLV, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) had an amalgam of different fuels on the same vehicle. The three-stage medium-lift launcher combined a large solid-fueled first-stage, hypergolic second-stage, a hydrolox third-stage, and hypergolic-propellant-fueled strap-on boosters (using a different hypergolic combination from the second-stage). This is considered unusual is that with the increase in the number of propellants on a launcher, the complexity of ground-support equipment (GSE) to support this increases. ISRO has chosen to accept this to achieve their performance objectives.
The GSLV launcher, in various configurations, has launched 16 times with mixed success, with only 10 completely-successful launches since becoming operational in 2001; it continues in service. ISRO was briefly under sanction by the United States government due to attempts to seek transfer of hydrolox engine technology from the Russian Federation in the early 1990s.
ISRO launch vehicle development has, for the moment, culminated in the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), a medium-lift launch capable of 10,000-kg to Low-Earth Orbit. Similar to the GSLV, it leverages a solid-fueled first-stage, hypergolic second-stage, and hydrolox third-stage - though it uses solid-fueled instead of hypergolic strap-on boosters. ISRO plans to human-rate the launcher to support their crewed spacecraft program.
The space industrial base
The Indian space industry that supports ISRO is substantively state-owned. It is a similar arrangement to that which existed in the Soviet Union, and now the Russian Federation, with state-run institutes, bureaus, and enterprises providing much of the manufacturing and services that support launch services and the many robotic and satellite programs operated by ISRO. These run a fine line between agency operations and state-owned enterprises - given the substantial operations involved in building and operating their launchers.
The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre and ISRO Propulsion Complex build both launcher and satellite engines, and engage in some assembly and integration with the associated stages. U R Rao Satellite Centre assembles many of the Indian government satellites. There is a long list of other centers and facilities too numerous to list here that contribute to other aspects of the built-in-India end-to-end space industrial base.
Successful robotic missions and constellations
Alongside ISRO’s broad success as a launch provider, the agency has also achieved great success with national-interest robotic missions. These have included missions to both Luna and Mars.
The Chandrayaan program, focused on Luna, has included an orbiter and two landers. The orbiter spent nearly a year in orbit, from late 2008 to late 2009, mapping the surface. Chandrayaan-2 attempted a landing in 2019, unsuccessfully. Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed near the Lunar south pole in 2023. In addition, a rover was deployed to the surface. The Mangalyaan-1 orbiter entered Mars orbit in 2014. India became the first nation to enter Mars orbit on the first attempt.
In addition, ISRO has lofted its own navigation constellation: the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). It also operates additional satellite-based navigational aides, and other telecommunications satellites.
Maturing national-interest space program
The long on-ramp from the early 1970s to now has, in the second and third decades of the twenty-first century, seen a substantial acceleration of the Indian space program under ISRO, including active development of a crewed space program, and plans for both a space station and a crewed lunar landing. The Indian space program is starting to add the elements that have made the programs from the United States, People’s Republic of China, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation so significant.
As part of this, ISRO’s launcher development continues with recent approval to pursue the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV). This heavy-lift launcher will be able to lift nearly 30,000-kg, supporting the types of payloads involved in upcoming planned ISRO crewed programs.
The coming India crewed space program
Though a human spaceflight program was considered as early as 2007, and authorized by the Indian government in 2009, it was not until the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century that a program began in earnest, with technology demonstration, and the development and testing of a crew capsule: Gaganyaan. The first un-crewed flight will not take place before December 2024; a crewed flight might occur in late 2025, if several earlier uncrewed flights are successful.
Originally announced back in 2019, recent announcements have brought more definition to the planned Bharatiya Antariksha space station, which would follow the initial Gaganyaan flights, and an intermediate program with only one of the station modules. India does not plan to collaborate on the International Space Station, nor on future partially-NASA-driven Low-Earth Orbit commercial space stations. The focus is on a Low-Earth Orbit presence driven by Indian national interest goals.
In the meantime, an Indian astronaut will be part of the Axiom-4 crew, travelling to the International Space Station in 2025. This is the second Indian astronaut to travel to space - with the first travelling to space on a Soviet Soyuz in the 1980s.
To the Moon!
While definition around any planned ISRO mission to Luna are relatively vague at this point, the agency has indicated long-term plans of an Indian mission to Luna. India has signed the Artemis Accords guiding an international return to the Luna, organized by NASA. However, their contribution to that program are as-yet unclear.
Burgeoning commercial industry
While ISRO and the state-enterprises behind it might take much of the thunder with the scale of their recent achievements, there is a growing commercial space industry in India, including satellite and component manufacturing, and launch service providers.
While no private commercial Indian launch service providers currently have operational launchers, several are working actively and progressively towards that goal. Skyroot Aerospace, formed in 2018, is working on its Vikram family of micro-lift and small-lift launchers. They have been developing the booster and engines in-house, with first flight of the Vikram-1 as early as later this year. AgniKul is developing its Agnibaan launcher. Also founded in 2018, it is taking a relatively unique approach to enabling a diverse set of launch locations. Going beyond launch service providers in the United States who are trying to keep their ground service equipment and boosters small enough to fit in shipping containers, it is designed to be launched from a transporter-erector-launcher towed by a typical semi-truck. They are continuing work on engine development, and have constructed a launch site - which will also support qualification activities. Outside launch services providers, there are other market segments developing. Bellatrix Aerospace has operational engine hardware, and is working on an orbital transfer vehicle.
In addition, Antrix is a state-owned enterprise that acts as the commercial arm of ISRO, filling the manifests for ISRO-built launchers. They currently operate the PSLV. If a customer chooses to launch with ISRO, they launch through Antrix.
Regarding launch production, ISRO has begun the process of transitioning from in-house production of their more-mature launchers, to commercial production. A consortium of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Larsen & Toubro have taken over production of the PSLV, with an initial run of five launchers. ISRO is following the PSLV example by beginning in mid-2024 to begin the same process for the LVM3 launcher - contractors yet to be selected.
There’s more to come
The Indian space industry, while it still has a substantial state-industry component, is making a distinct pivot towards greater commercial involvement. This is a pivot happening globally, and India is evidently no different. At the same time, ISRO is committing into substantial and sustained national interest space programs across cis-lunar space.
Commercial success will only beget further commercial interest across Indian private industry. At least one private commercial micro-lift or small-lift launcher should be available by next year. At the same time, Antrix should soon be relying on launchers being produced commercially.
Either way, the Indian space industry remains something to watch.
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