Table of Contents
NOTES
The government has committed Rs 10,469 crore to India’s space agency to build 40 rockets over
the next five years, which includes ten heavier rockets or the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch vehicle (GSLVMk-III) that can hurl 4-tonne communication satellites into space.
CABINET
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved 30 operational
flights of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse rocket of Indian Space
Research Organisation (Isro) between 2019-2024.
DISTRIBUTION
Funds amounting to Rs. 6,131 crore includes the cost of 30 PSLV vehicles, essential facility augmentation, programme management and launch campaign.
The cabinet also approved funding for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III Continuation Programme (Phase-1), consisting of 10 GSLV (Mk-III) flights, at an estimated
cost of Rs. 4,338 crore.
SPACEX WORTH $32BN IN 2019?
• SpaceX is currently held 54 per cent by the Elon Musk Trust (but with 78 per cent voting control) but with investment stakes from Google and Fidelity among others.
• SpaceX’s successful launches have climbed from 6 in 2014 to 18 last year and are expected to be about 31 this year.
NOTES
Forbes reckons that in launch revenues alone SpaceX should be achieving $2.7 billion – $2.8
billion next year. Forbes says that add in early revenues from SpaceX’s ‘Starlink’ broadband-by satellite services and the $25 billion – $27 billion valuation it gave SpaceX earlier this year could
easily translate into $32 billion during 2019.
•India currently commands only 0.6 percent share of the global satellite launch industry despite a series of advancement in space exploration; mainly due to the weight limit of its older polar satellite launch vehicle.
In a recent development, the government floated a draft commercial space activities Bill which – if legislated in its current form – will require you to have a license to operate (apart from the usual company registrations that apply to other sectors).
FINE
The proposed punishment for undertaking commercial space activity without
authorization is imprisonment for one to three years or with a fine upwards of Rs 1 crore.
•The Observer Research Foundation published a book (available to read in full for free) in 2017 that provides a more detailed reading of the opportunities and hurdles in India’s space ecosystem.
WhatsApp