The launch of India’s eighth navigation satellite, IRNSS- 1H, on Thursday will open a new chapter in the country’s history of space exploration as, for the first time, the private sector has been actively involved in assembling and testing of a satellite. Earlier, the private sector’s role was limited only to supplying components.
The 1,425-kg satellite is all set to start its voyage from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, riding the Indian Space Research Organisation’s trusted launch vehicle PSLV-XL.
A consortium led by Bengaluru-based Alpha Design Technologies successfully completed 25% of the development work of IRNSS-1H, under the guidance of Isroscientists. TOI
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Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar told TOI, “For the first time, a private company has been involved in the integration of a satellite. Progressively, we will involve more and more companies in satellite assembly activities.” Kiran Kumar said, “Subsystems of the payload and launch vehicle are already being developed in collaboration with the industry.”
