ISRO gearing up to cut costs to tap market

Hyderabad, Sep 25 (UNI) The Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) is constantly striving to cut costs to tap the huge global market for the launch of satellites, its Chairman G Madhavan Nair said today.

Inaugurating a session on 'Business Opportunities in Space', he said, ''we want to reduce the cost at least by 20 per cent to tap the huge business potential.'' ISRO had bagged orders for the launch of half-a-dozen small and medium satellites in the next one year, he informed.

ISRO was working on reducing the failure rate to five per cent from the present ten per cent in ten years and just one per cent thereafter, he added.

India's space programme was a result of close cooperation with over 500 domestic industrial units, former ISRO chief and Rajya Sabha member K Kasturirangan said, participating in the session.

''We (ISRO scientists) did not want to do everything on our own as the returns will not be commensurate with the money invested,'' he said, adding that hence ISRO decided on acquiring best of systems available elsewhere.

India expected ten per cent growth in satellite launch business every year. ISRO was trying to optimise the modules to ensure low cost access to space, ISRO Launch Vehicles Director Dr P S Sastry, chairing the session on commercial launch opportunities and needs, said.

India would have re-usable satellite launch vehicles in the next two years. Technology demonstration would be conducted next year, he added.

UNI