‘Chandrayaan will launch by the third quarter’

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we have commissioned the deep space tracking network near Bangalore. Everything is falling in place. We hope that we will be ready by the third quarter. The reason for the postponement was, I think, the sheer volume of work.

How do you plan to achieve the target 10% marketshare of the $2-billion global launch market?

We have reached around $60 million. Making it to the target is an uphill task. It is not only about price and reliability, but political factors also come into the picture.

Earlier, you mentioned concerns about US restrictions with regard to space technology. How much do such hurdles impact business?

Today, many major Isro centres are on the US ‘entity’ list. That means high technology products from the US cannot be sold to these centres. We are not too worried about that because we have alternatives. But the US is losing business. In fact, right now, hardly $15 million a year is our business with the US, but it could expand to $60-$70 million if these restrictions are removed.

What growth targets have you set for the commercial arm, Antrix?

We are touching close to Rs 750 crore (in revenues). For the last two years, we are maintaining a growth of 20-25%. That is a good achievement for Antrix, which has been declared a mini-Navratna company. We think we will be able to multiply or continue more or less with the same range of growth. There are multiple channels of revenue. Image sales will account for around 20% of the revenue. Then we have launch services and satellite building, which almost contribute an equal share of revenues.

With global competition from established players, what is India’s USP in the launch business?

Basically, our launch vehicles are reliable ones—and they are also cost effective. Of course, for heavy payloads, Europe’s Arianespace seems to be holding the market. The US has Titan, which is used for communication. Russia has its Proton and others. Those vehicles, by and large, are for their own programmes and to some extent commercial. We are in dialogue with Ariane to come to an agreement where smaller payloads will be deflected to Isro while they take on the bigger ones. If such an arrangement falls into place, then we can get a better marketshare.

Is there scope for similar collaborations in any other field?