NEW DELHI: There were cheers, and even a few joyful tears, at the Shriharikota missile launch pad in mid-October, as India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully agreed into the southern skies.
The missile Later deposited into a low Earth orbit the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, a feat that signals the advent of a new and significant source of revenue for this nation telecommunications
India has been attempting to develop world-class space technology for more than 30 years. It has made great strides despite obstacles presented by the Missile Technology Control Regime, a group of seven Western powers that agreed in 1987 to observe certain guidelines for missile-related technology exports, and by embargoes by nations concerned with global nuclear proliferation.
The technology that made possible the hoisting of the Remote Sensing Satellite into the heavens represents a particular triumph for Indian engineers.
Its development came despite two years of sanctions imposed by the United States on the Indian Space Research Organization and the Russian space agency Glavkosmos because of a contract between the two for the transfer of cryogenic engine technology, which is prohibited by the Missile Technology Control Regime
Cryogenic anginas, fueled by liquid hydrogen and oxygen, are required to launch vehicles carrying largo pay. loads into orbit. The technology transfer is on the forbidden list because of its potential military application.
Having overcome this hurdle, India apparently will soon join the exclusive club of space techno-giants – comprised of the United States, China, Russia, Japan and France capable of launching one-on satellites.
Although solid fuel for previous launch vehicles was imported from the United States, the propellant used in October’s launch was indigenously produced, and the Indian Space Research Organization claims that it was the first wholly Indian show
The commercial viability of the satellite business is well established. Total revenues were estimated at nearly $500 million a year, with the dominant U.S. space industry accounting for $150 million
But some Western diplomats quos Lion whether India can afford the expenses associated with maintaining and upgrading a space program, and cynics suggest that it is an exercise in vanity by government technocrats.
Other experts say the collapse of the Soviet Union has saturated the launch market – with Russia now joining China and Japan in heated competition with Europe and the United States.
India has long insisted that the purpose of its space program is to promote such peaceful endeavors as communication, meteorology, resources survey and management and development of interactive educational facilities for remote areas
But the underlying objective of a Successful space program is often a military one, and India’s leap forward is making its neighbors nervous. Pakistan is convinced that Now Delhi is developing the space program for military purposes. A Pakistani official who requested anonymity recently reiterated this, adding, “Of course we are afraid.” Some informed observers say shoddy standards and rampant inefficiency within the Indian program lower the potential military danger and the likelihood of India snaring a large percentage of the launch business.
In a year-end analysis in the newspaper Asian Age, Praveen Sawhney wrote of the inability of the defense industrial base to produce critical components and said: “It is almost certain that the indigenous contents of the equipment is much less than what 15 given out by the government.” Headded that the Defence Ministry’s quality assurance department “has made matters worse by clearing substandard stuff along what little is manufactured.”
While the United States congratulated India on the launch success in had tried to prevent, it remains why of India’s coy skirting of the question of military use of its space technology. India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and part of the U.S. diplomatic effort here is devoted to bringing India around.
The landmark military accord signed earlier this month by both nations makes no mention of the nuclear issue but lays the groundwork for unprecedented cooperation by approving expanded joint exercises, training, dozens research and weapons production.
This is part of a U.S. strategy to draw India closer as the post-Cold War world order continues to take shape.
Senator John Kerry. D-Mass., declared at a recent lecture in New Delhi: We need to have confidence building measures. We are giving nuclear power technology to North Korea; why would we stop it here?”
He added. “We cannot continue to be suspicious of each other. We are serious about the partnership. We are looking for reciprocal seriousness.”
With commerce between the two counters running at an all-time high Washington is in sense playing catch up with the U.S. private sector.
Satellite-dependent telecommunications firms such as Comsat and AT&T are rushing to develop what they perceive as a huge, soon-to-be-lucrative market. Robert Kinzio, chairman and CEO of Iridium, Inc., which has already established an Indian affiliate, said. “We View India as an essential and booming marketplace.”
Article extracted from this publication >> February 17, 1995
