IAS/UPSC Coaching Institute  

19 May 2025 : Tough timing

Editorial 2: ​Tough timing

Context

ISRO needs more resources to support India’s military needs

 

Introduction

Contemporary spaceflight faces a tense triangle of cost, reliability, and time. The recent failure of ISRO’s PSLV-C61 to launch the EOS-09 satellite underscores the challenges in ensuring mission success despite investments. EOS-09’s advanced radar capabilities were crucial for civilian applications and defense surveillance, highlighting the high stakes of reliable space technology.

 

The Cost-Reliability-Time Triangle in Contemporary Spaceflight

  • Space missions today face a tense balance between cost, reliability, and time.
  • It is difficult to definitively say if increased funding guarantees higher reliability, especially after recent mission failures.
  • Example: ISRO’s PSLV-C61 mission failure to launch the EOS-09 satellite into a sun-synchronous polar orbit highlights these challenges.

 

Importance and Capabilities of EOS-09 Satellite

  • Designed to capture high-quality radar images using synthetic aperture radar and C-band data links.
  • Intended for civilian uses:
    • Land-use mapping
    • Hydrology studies
  • Also crucial for defense surveillance, providing data even during inclement weather.
  • Given the tensions with Pakistan, all-weather surveillance data had tactical military value.
  • The Department of Space invited Members of Parliament to the launch, unusual for a civilian earth-observation satellite, indicating its strategic importance.

 

Details of the PSLV-C61 Failure

  • ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan reported a glitch in the rocket’s third stage shortly after liftoff.
  • This malfunction prevented the satellite from reaching the intended altitude.
  • The exact cause is still unknown.
  • The incident demonstrates that even a well-understood launch vehicle like PSLV is not foolproof.

 

India’s Expanding Space Surveillance Ambitions

  • India is launching the Space-Based Surveillance-3 programme with plans to deploy 52 surveillance satellites.
  • Out of these, 31 satellites will be manufactured by the private sector, which still requires ISRO’s oversight.
  • The programme gains urgency following Operation Sindoor, which exposed gaps in India’s military space surveillance.
    • During this operation, India had to rely on a foreign commercial operator for frequent satellite data.

 

Challenges: Margin for Error, Urgency, and Pressure

  • Small errors in rocket components can cause mission failure, linking cost directly to reliability.
  • Time pressure is intense due to:
    • The urgent need for better surveillance capabilities
    • Climate change monitoring
    • Disaster risk assessment
  • Developers cannot afford delays and must deliver across both civilian and military needs.

 

Recent Setbacks and Future Needs

  • The PSLV-C61 failure follows the January failure of the NVS-02 navigation satellite launch.
  • ISRO faces multiple challenges simultaneously:
    • A growing launch schedule
    • Research and development demands
    • Data acquisition and processing needs
    • Manufacturing capacity limits
    • Human spaceflight programme development
  • To maintain competitiveness and meet India's military and civilian space needs, it is reasonable to increase resources allocated to ISRO.

 

Conclusion

ISRO’s growing ambitions, including the Space-Based Surveillance-3 programme, confront significant technical challenges and time pressures. Recent failures reveal that even proven rockets like the PSLV are not infallible. To meet urgent civilian and military needs, address manufacturing limits, and sustain global competitiveness, increased resources and private sector collaboration are essential for India’s evolving space strategy.