Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Another feather on ISRO’s cap' that was published in Newsband

Another feather on ISRO’s cap

The successful launch of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is a great news. Now RLV is a vehicle that can be reused multiple times to launch satellites into orbit. It will take 10 to 15 years, and several more launches, before ISRO readies a reusable launch vehicle for commercial use. This vehicle will play a pivotal role in cutting down by as much as 80 per cent the cost of launching satellites into orbit. In fact, ISRO is already well-known for launching satellites at a far cheaper cost than other space agencies.

No other space agency has reusable launch vehicles in operation, and ISRO has taken a lead in developing one. Learning from the mistakes of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in its space shuttle programme, ISRO will not use the same reusable vehicle to launch satellites and carry astronauts.

It gives an immense feeling of contentment as India is no more lagging behind other developed countries in terms of innovation and trials. ISRO's team is slogging in their own way. 

Yes, ISRO must send its astronauts to International Space Station. ISRO should not work in International isolation in Space research. Malaysians and Iranians have sent their astronauts to International Space Station. India had lost 1962 war due to lack of Cryogenic technology.

ISRO technology demonstrator however proves that it continues to work silently for India's space program. It would be even more interesting to see how ISRO envisions the future of the program.

Kudos to Indian scientists for developing indigenous technology for space missions. The hard work for years paid off. Congratulations to ISRO for a flawless test flight which has validated several things in one go. At the same time, the success of this much delayed RLV-TD flight must compress the time for its operationalization. Another 15 years to wait for this technology will be too long as by that time Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) would be the norm. We have already waited for too long for the cryogenic upper stage that has set us back by almost a decade. We are still unable to send a 4-tonne satellite to GTO while Ariane and China have been regularly sending 10-tonnes into such an orbit.

While one understands the situations that led to the delay including sanctions on Glavkosmos under MTCR, the trumped up spy scandal etc. national imperatives demand that we accelerate these nationally critical programmes. Sending a manned mission is not our priority but cheaper and safer access to space for national needs such as remote sensing, communications, security are.

ISRO should also recover and reuse the booster that launches the shuttles if cost effective. It should also consider two versions of the shuttle - unmanned and manned. The former should autonomously deploy cargo/satellites in orbits. The latter should be to ferry humans to space which is going to be more expensive.