The space industry achieved some significant milestones in 2022, with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) awarding a ₹860-crore contract to the space conglomerate made up of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the commercial development of the following five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).
With Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-S rocket, the first suborbital launch by a commercial enterprise, and the launches of Pixxel's hyperspectral satellites Shakuntala and Anand on SpaceX's Falcon-9 and ISRO's PSLV, respectively, in April and November, Indian start-ups made their presence known.
The Gaganyaan project, India's first human space flight, will conduct a number of experiments in 2023. The first unmanned mission, which is scheduled for the year's final quarter, will test the effectiveness of the project's human-rated launch vehicle, orbital module propulsion system, and recovery procedures.
The maiden runway landing experiment (RLV-LEX) of the reusable launch vehicle will also be conducted by ISRO early in 2023 at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh told Parliament earlier in December.
A client satellite will be launched into orbit by Skyroot Aerospace, which launched India's first privately constructed rocket in November, at some point in 2019. Agnikul Cosmos, a start-up based on the IIT-Madras campus, has also scheduled the test flight of its highly customizable Agnibaan rocket.
The initial orbital launches of many more rocket businesses throughout the world, according to Pixxel co-founder and CEO Awais Ahmed, will result in a rocket-themed game of thrones as they compete for the same group of clients launching satellites into orbit.
"We are developing six commercial hyperspectral imagery satellites which will be ready for launch next year," Ahmed told PTI.
Thybolt 1 and Thybolt 2 were launched by DhruvaSpace on board ISRO's PSLV C-54 mission to show the feasibility of amateur satellite communication, which will aid ham radio operations. According to CFO Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, DhurvaSpace has already signed a ₹20-crore commercial deal to develop satellites.
(With agency inputs)
