L&T, Godrej, HAL, Isro to sign pact to build PSLV rockets

Larsen & Toubro, Godrej and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will join a consortium, being put together by Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), to build Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).

The vehicles will launch small satellites, and the first launch is being planned by 2020. A pact is to be signed by January for this initiative, said a source.

India’s space agency, which has designed the rocket, has been building and launching satellites, 

including probes for the moon and Mars missions, on its own. It has more work on its plate to meet the country’s requirement of building heavier rockets and reusable spacecraft that can carry bigger satellites and a capsule that will eventually put a man in space.

There is a huge spurt in demand to launch smaller satellites, those as light as 1 kg, with a lifespan of two to three years. But there aren’t enough rockets to carry these.

The PSLV, following its successful 104 satellite launch in February, has emerged as a preferred vehicle for small satellite launches globally.

SpaceWorks, a US satellite researcher, estimates that about 2,400 nano and microsatellites are expected to be launched between 2017 and 2023. The latest forecast says nearly 60 per cent of the satellites planned are from private players, against 40 per cent in the five years to 2016.