You can call it Indian Space Research Organisation?s (ISRO) boldest step in space. World can now let India launch its spacecraft. We have the launch capability to put all types of satellites?military, communications and broadcasting or weathermonitoring?safely into the orbit on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and geosynchronous launch vehicle (GSLV). And this could be done 60-70% cheaper in costs as compared to Russia, the US, China and European countries. That?s not all. Our space scientists can also design, build, fabricate and test complete satellites with various payloads according to the user requirements.

As India shook the global space community with its 10-satellite launch in one go on board its PSLV and competing nations in the $2.5 billion commercial satellite business looked in awe, the message was loud and clear. Blast-offs are no longer restricted to testing the capabilities of satellite launch vehicles; they are for generating profits and making fast-bucks in the commercial satellite launch market expected to grow rapidly over the next several years. ?It is a feat even NASA has not been able to accomplish,? inform space scientists.

Commercially, ISRO made only Rs 2.5 crore when the PSLV ferried eight tiny research satellites, belonging to research facilities in Canada, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. The rocket also carried an Indian mini satellite to gather technological data, which will be available for sale.

Launch vehicles account for two-thirds of the total cost in the $2.5-billion global space market. The remaining goes into building satellites and ground support for monitoring and maintaining them.

Globally, an increasing number of satellites are getting deployed in space for applications spanning direct-to-home (DTH) services, global positioning systems (GPS), education, telecom, weather monitoring and others. These satellites could range from as heavy as 5-tonne to as light as 50-kg. With PSLV as its reliable and proven workhorse and the GSLV fast becoming near perfect, ISRO is targeting the entire range of satellites that need to be put into space. And Antrix Corp, the space agency?s marketing arm is becoming its gateway to the rest of the world.

?Launch market is a risky business, requiring big investments. Countries around the world are looking for low-cost launch options and this is where we could play a major role,?? says Sridhara Murthi, CEO, Antrix.

Launch of PSLV-C9 is a significant milestone for the country, as it has proved the reliability and versatility of PSLV and its ability to put satellites in different types of orbits, thus proving its commercial potential as well. This provides an excellent opportunity to undertake commercial launches of different class of satellites as stand-alone launches or as shared launches with our own satellites.

But, beyond the commercial ambitions, this milestone for India represents a strategic capability as an emerging economic, political and military power on the world stage. This is also a great comeback for ISRO about two years after a launch in 2006 had to be destroyed less than a minute after lift off when it veered from its path.

?We have set a record and showed the world that we can have multiple launches carried out precisely. Only Russia had so far tried to launch 13 satellites in a single launch and I am not sure whether that was successful,? says ISRO chairman G Madhavan. He expressed happiness that all the mission objectives were achieved with precision and all systems functioned very well.

Amidst several misadventures, ISRO?s space odyssey, which began from blasting off into space sounding rockets in the 1960s to sending sophisticated satellites in recent times, has been quite eventful.

In its 12 consecutively successful flights so far, PSLV has repeatedly proved itself as a reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle. It has demonstrated multiple satellite launch capability, having launched a total of 16 satellites for international customers, besides 13 Indian payloads, which are for remote sensing, amateur radio communications and space capsule recovery experiment (SRE-1).

In its most recent flight, it carried eight nanosatellites from abroad as auxiliary payloads, besides IMS-1 as well as CARTOSAT-2A. The foreign payloads are built to develop nanotechnologies for use in satellites, as well as for the development of technologies for satellite applications.

The space agency is on the threshold of a new dawn as PSLV will be used to launch Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, India?s first mission to Moon during this year. ?It will be the test bed for the mission,? says ISRO spokesperson, S Satish.

The mission envisages placing a 525-kg satellite in a polar orbit 100-km above the Moon. The satellite will be launched using a modified version of PSLV. The main objectives of Chandrayan-1 include obtaining imagery of the Moon?s surface, using high-resolution remote sensing instruments in the visible, near infrared, low and high-energy X-ray regions.

The key challenge for ISRO has been to demonstrate its capability to launch heavy satellites, weighing over 4-tonne. Scientists say that such capability will be available by next year when ISRO readies its heavier rocket GSLV Mark-III.

?PSLV is good for small satellites. The GSLV rocket is capable of carrying 2 to 2.2-tonne satellite. The Mark III GSLV vehicle and future launch vehicles will help us capture 10-15% of the market,? says Murthi.

Interestingly, Antrix has been playing a key role in marketing ISRO?s launch vehicles to fly satellites from abroad. The European connection with EADS is helping ISRO take rapid strides in its commercial journey. Astrium?the space arm of EADS?and Antrix have achieved two significant successes with two satellite contracts awarded respectively by Eutelsat and Avanti Communications (UK).

?Astrium has also provided ISRO several types of spacecraft equipment, including solar cell assemblies, and was recently awarded a contract for the supply of fibre optics gyroscopes for ISRO?s Chandrayaan mission to the Moon,? informs the EADS spokesperson, Gregor Kursell.

Antrix has two more commitments: a cluster of three nanosatellites called CUBESEATS for Innovation Solution in Space (ISIS) from the Netherlands for scientific observations and technology experiments; and X-SAT satellite from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore for technology demonstrations. Both these satellites will soon be launched by ISRO.

Though concrete proposals are yet to be worked out, several countries, especially from the Middle East have approached ISRO for putting their satellites into space. Negotiations are still on under the Indo-US Space Working Group, to enable ISRO to launch US-made satellites.

According to Murthi, India is eager to compete against the US, Russia, China, the Ukraine and the European Space Agency in providing commercial satellite launch services.

?We are in talks with the US, Germany, France, Canada, Algeria, among other countries for collaboration in several areas?from satellite launches to servicing, spare parts etc. In the complex markets of spare parts for the satellites, we are trying to get in gradually. We want to strengthen this activity,? he adds.

For now on, all eyes are on ISRO?s Moon mission and a manned space mission within seven years from now. ISRO will first put out three unmanned rockets to test the systems before sending a rocket with a man. It seems the space agency?s hour of reckoning has finally arrived.