ISRO keen to outsource satellite building to private sector

13 February, Bengaluru

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)looking ahead for a crowded next five years, want greater participation from the private sector to scale up their operations,including building of a satellite too.

In his plenary lecture to the ongoing Aero India International Symposium here, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) Director M Annadurai said today that the country aimed to hurl into space 75 space craft over the next five years. It had already initiated building of three satellites in two months as against one every month to meet the demand.

He said that the private sector industries which were already providing components and sub systems should scale up their manufacturing capacity and capability to build total systems. And they could also look up to end satellite building itself.

He said that the robust system developed by ISRO had benefited a number of industries and the Organisation was looking for greater participation that could lead even to export satellites in the future in view of the cost effective manufacturing in the country.

He commented about the shrinking expertise within ISRO and called for the need to scale up the manpower requirement both in public and private sector to meet the space programme aspirations of the country.

He said Communication Satellite GSAT-11 is fully ready and would soon be shipped to the European Space of Kourou in French Guyana for launch by an Ariane satellite lifter.