Latest news with #Isro
Mint
3 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Questions raised as HAL outbids Adani Defence, Bharat Dynamics in Isro's SSLV ‘privatisation' attempt
Next Story Business News/ Companies / Questions raised as HAL outbids Adani Defence, Bharat Dynamics in Isro's SSLV 'privatisation' attempt Shouvik Das State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics, Adani Defence Systems's subsidiary, and Bharat Dynamics were the finalists among six shortlisted bidders for Isro's ₹ 511-crore small rocket contract. The contract will see HAL take full ownership of the small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) that Isro built and first launched in August 2022. (PTI) Gift this article New Delhi: Almost three years since its first demonstrator mission launch, a ₹ 511-crore contract to privatize Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) was awarded toHindustan Aeronautics Ltd by the government's nodal space agency on Friday. New Delhi: Almost three years since its first demonstrator mission launch, a ₹ 511-crore contract to privatize Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) was awarded toHindustan Aeronautics Ltd by the government's nodal space agency on Friday. However, considering that HAL is a public sector undertaking overseen by the defence ministry, analysts, observers and proxy advisory firms are questioning whether the award truly qualifies as 'privatization' of the government-built rocket. The contract will see HAL take full ownership of the rocket that Isro built and first launched in August 2022. Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space), said the project is 'not just a manufacturing contract—HAL will do end-to-end manufacturing, supply chain procurement, winning orders from clients, (and ) launching and maintaining the rocket in the long run". Isro will handhold HAL through the making and validation of the small rocket for two years. Beyond this period, Goenka said HAL can onboard Isro as an advisor on a commercial contract basis. As of 20 June, the Union government holds a 71% stake in HAL. 'The bid from HAL was carefully selected by In-Space, Isro, and NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) through two bidding rounds. The first round saw the participation of nine companies, from which six were shortlisted. In the second round, three of the bidders dropped out, leaving HAL, and two consortiums—led by Alpha Design Technologies and Bharat Dynamics—as the finalists," Goenka said. Alpha Design is owned by Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Ltd. Neither HAL, NSIL or In-Space disclosed the cost of making the small rockets. Radhakrishnan Durairaj, chairman and managing director of NSIL, which is Isro's commercial space operations division, said the information 'would allude to SSLV's competitiveness on a global scale" and thus could not be disclosed. Industry stakeholders said the decision may not bode well for Isro's privatisation in the long run. Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research, said the move is 'strange, seeing that the contract was delivered to HAL without validating the firm's capability of delivering space projects as per timelines". Also read | How ISRO's 100th mission reflects its original startup spirit One hand to the other HAL, in partnership with Larsen and Toubro Ltd, was previously awarded an ₹ 860-crore contract to manufacture five units of Isro's larger rocket variant—the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)—in September 2022. The initial timeline to deliver the first of the five PSLVs was two years. 'We are on track with the engineering efforts, and results from the PSLV contract will be seen very soon," said Barenya Senapati, director of finance at HAL, fielding questions on the company's space contract execution capability during Friday's announcement. 'Our air force engineering division is separate from our new space business, so the two work very differently and are not interconnected," Senapati said, without disclosing when the first PSLV will be delivered. The SSLV award may compound pressure on HAL at a time when the public sector undertaking has been in the firing line of the Indian Air Force itself in terms of its failure to deliver its contract of indigenous 'Tejas' combat aircrafts. 'In a way, this is a good thing for the other private startups," said Narayan Prasad Nagendra, space industry consultant and chief operating officer of Dutch space supply chain firm, Satsearch. 'HAL's contract is essentially a representation of a government contract shifting funds from one hand to another without specifically achieving anything. If at all, given HAL's current track record in space, this will make way for private startups such as Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos to win more clients and take a market lead," he added. Also read | Space tourism: Can Isro beat Blue Origin? On the flipside, others said the move may have come out of necessity. Chaitanya Giri, space fellow at global think-tank Observer Research Foundation, said that 'since the other two final bids for the SSLV were through consortia, In-Space and Isro were really left with only one choice to execute a clean, simple contract for the SSLV". However, Giri added that 'the move to award the contract to HAL cannot strictly be called privatization—it is better to be referred to as commercialization by bringing a legacy Indian industry name into the nascent field". 'It also shows that the Indian government is not yet fully confident in India's private space firms, which could be another reason behind HAL winning the small rocket contract," Giri added. In-Space's Goenka, however, said HAL winning the contract 'was not a subjective decision". 'HAL was the highest bidder, and also cleared In-Space and Isro's technical evaluation process in terms of its capability under all parameters, thereby emerging with the contract as per the official process," he said. Topics You May Be Interested In Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
ISRO, Coffee Board tie up to assess coffee's carbon footprint
The Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) is helping the Coffee Board of India to quantify the carbon footprint of coffee and assess the carbon sequestration potential of the crop. 'Collaborative studies with Isro have been initiated to quantify carbon sequestration in shaded coffee plantations in India,' said M Senthil Kumar, director of research, Coffee Board, adding that Isro is collecting data. The aim is to quantify the carbon footprint of coffee in the backdrop of the EU's Deforestation Regulation, which requires firms to ensure that products exported to the EU have been grown on land which has not been deforested after December 31, 2020. The regulation has implications for India's coffee, cocoa, soya, wood products, rubber and its products, and leather goods exports. For non-compliance, it prescribes fines up to 4% of a firm's annual turnover in the EU and confiscation of products and revenue gained from a transaction. Senthilkumar said that nutrient formulations and organic supplements have been evolved for sustainable coffee nutrition, and these initiatives have led to India's coffee exports in FY25 rising by 40% year-on-year to $1.8 billion. India's coffee production reached 363,000 tonnes in FY24. 'We have come out with a formulation to improve yield and increase the number of berries and retention of berries. There are three high yielding varieties on which the Coffee Board is doing multi location trials,' he said. The board has released 13 Arabica and 3 Robusta varieties of coffee and will be applying for geographical indications for two varieties. At present, GI tags are granted for Coorg Arabica, Bababudangiri Arabica, Chikmagalur Arabica, Araku Valley, and Wayanad Robusta coffees. Officials said that 490,000 hectares of land is under coffee plantation across 12 states, of which 30% is Arabica variety and 70% is Robusta.
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Business Standard
6 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
HAL outbids Adani-backed firm to bag transfer of tech of SSLV from Isro
In a significant milestone, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was on Friday declared the winner of the bid for the transfer of technology of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), the Isro's rocket to place satellites up to 500 kg in low-earth orbit, edging out two consortia, including one led by a defence manufacturer backed by the Adani Group. Fighter jet manufacturer HAL was the standalone bidder for the coveted contract to build the Isro-designed rocket and was pitted against the two consortia -- one led by Alpha Design Technologies, backed by the Adani Group, and the other led by Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Limited. HAL presented the winning bid of Rs 511 crore to emerge as the sole manufacturer of the SSLV after the completion of the process of transfer of technology that is expected to take place over the next two years. "Under this technology-transfer agreement, HAL will have the capability to independently build, own and commercialise SSLV launches," Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (INSPACe), told a press conference here. HAL will be the third company to build rockets after space sector start-ups Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos. Goenka said nine companies had evinced interest in the transfer of technology of the SSLV, of which three were rejected. Of the remaining six, three chose not to apply. "The SSLV technology transfer marks a pivotal moment in India's transformative commercial space segment, as this is one of the first instances of a space agency transferring complete launch vehicle technology to a company," he said. Goenka said the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will handhold HAL and assist it in building two prototype rockets over the next two years. After that, the state-owned company is expected to independently produce six to 10 SSLVs every year, depending on the demand. "HAL will be free to improve on the design and select its own vendors from the third rocket after the two-year period," Goenka said. The SSLV was developed by the Isro to launch small satellites into low-earth orbit at a shorter notice, a capability required by the defence forces in times of emergencies. "This collaboration marks a significant step towards strengthening India's commercial satellite-launch capabilities and more specifically, in enabling Indian industry in realising this SSLV," Radhakrishnan Durairaj, Chairman and Managing Director of New Space India Limited (NSIL), said. The move is part of efforts to allow the Isro to focus more on research and hive off the routine activities of launching satellites, using proven launch vehicles to the industry. "We are looking forward to working closely under the Isro and IN-SPACe's guidance to progress in phases and realise the end objectives. We are confident of steering a cohesive ecosystem that enables more small satellite launches from India's ports," D K Sunil, Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, said. The technology-transfer agreement will be signed among HAL, NSIL, Isro and IN-SPACe. The agreement encompasses extensive training and handholding of HAL personnel by Isro teams, both at Isro and HAL facilities, for the realisation and launch of two SSLVs in the next two years.
Mint
6 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Questions raised as HAL outbids Adani Defence, Bharat Dynamics in Isro's ‘privatisation' attempt
New Delhi: Almost three years since its first demonstrator mission launch, a ₹511-crore contract to privatize Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) was awarded toHindustan Aeronautics Ltd by the government's nodal space agency on Friday. However, considering that HAL is a public sector undertaking overseen by the defence ministry, analysts, observers and proxy advisory firms are questioning the efficacy of the announcement, insisting it does not truly qualify as 'privatization' of the government-built rocket. The contract will see HAL take full ownership of the rocket that Isro built and first launched in August 2022. Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space), said the project is 'not just a manufacturing contract—HAL will do end-to-end manufacturing, supply chain procurement, winning orders from clients, (and ) launching and maintaining the rocket in the long run". Isro will handhold HAL through the making and validation of the small rocket for two years. Beyond this period, Goenka said HAL can onboard Isro as an advisor on a commercial contract basis. As of 20 June, the Union government holds a 71% stake in HAL. Also read | Hindustan Aeronautics: Here's all you need to know before investing 'The bid from HAL was carefully selected by In-Space, Isro, and NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) through two bidding rounds. The first round saw the participation of nine companies, from which six were shortlisted. In the second round, three of the bidders dropped out, leaving HAL, and two consortiums—led by Alpha Design Technologies and Bharat Dynamics—as the finalists," Goenka said. Alpha Design is owned by Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Ltd. Neither HAL, NSIL or In-Space disclosed the cost of making the small rockets. Radhakrishnan Durairaj, chairman and managing director of NSIL, which is Isro's commercial space operations division, said the information 'would allude to SSLV's competitiveness on a global scale" and thus could not be disclosed. Industry stakeholders said the decision may not bode well for Isro's privatisation in the long run. Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research, said the move is 'strange, seeing that the contract was delivered to HAL without validating the firm's capability of delivering space projects as per timelines". Also read | How ISRO's 100th mission reflects its original startup spirit One hand to the other HAL, in partnership with Larsen and Toubro Ltd, was previously awarded an ₹860-crore contract to manufacture five units of Isro's larger rocket variant—the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)—in September 2022. The initial timeline to deliver the first of the five PSLVs was two years. 'We are on track with the engineering efforts, and results from the PSLV contract will be seen very soon," said Barenya Senapati, director of finance at HAL, fielding questions on the company's space contract execution capability during Friday's announcement. 'Our air force engineering division is separate from our new space business, so the two work very differently and are not interconnected," Senapati said, without disclosing when the first PSLV will be delivered. The SSLV award may compound pressure on HAL at a time when the public sector undertaking has been in the firing line of the Indian Air Force itself in terms of its failure to deliver its contract of indigenous 'Tejas' combat aircrafts. 'In a way, this is a good thing for the other private startups," said Narayan Prasad Nagendra, space industry consultant and chief operating officer of Dutch space supply chain firm, Satsearch. 'HAL's contract is essentially a representation of a government contract shifting funds from one hand to another without specifically achieving anything. If at all, given HAL's current track record in space, this will make way for private startups such as Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos to win more clients and take a market lead," he added. Also read | Space tourism: Can Isro beat Blue Origin? On the flipside, others said the move may have come out of necessity. Chaitanya Giri, space fellow at global think-tank Observer Research Foundation, said that 'since the other two final bids for the SSLV were through consortia, In-Space and Isro were really left with only one choice to execute a clean, simple contract for the SSLV". However, Giri added that 'the move to award the contract to HAL cannot strictly be called privatization—it is better to be referred to as commercialization by bringing a legacy Indian industry name into the nascent field". 'It also shows that the Indian government is not yet fully confident in India's private space firms, which could be another reason behind HAL winning the small rocket contract," Giri added. In-Space's Goenka, however, said HAL winning the contract 'was not a subjective decision". 'HAL was the highest bidder, and also cleared In-Space and Isro's technical evaluation process in terms of its capability under all parameters, thereby emerging with the contract as per the official process," he said.
India Today
7 hours ago
- Science
- India Today
Chandrayaan-2 captures debris of crashed Japanese spacecraft on the Moon
In a remarkable feat of space sleuthing, India's Chandrayaan-2 mission has helped locate the debris of a crashed Japanese lunar lander, thanks to the sharp eyes of space enthusiast Shanmuga high-resolution images captured by Chandrayaan-2's Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC), Subramanian identified the scattered remains of the Japanese spacecraft Japanese lander, which lost contact during its descent had left mission controllers and space enthusiasts worldwide searching for clues about its fate. Resilience debris found in Chandrayaan-2 images. (Photo: Isro) advertisement The spacecraft was tagetting to land on the Moon's Sea of Cold in the Northern Hemisphere when Mission Control in Tokyo lost communications and telemetry with the after the spacecraft crashed on the Moon, ispace revealed the initial findings from data it received moments before the spacecraft had a hard landing on the laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values. As a result, the lander was unable to decelerate CHANDRAYAAN-2Chandrayaan-2's OHRC, with its impressive 0.25-meter resolution—the highest achieved by any lunar orbiter—provided the crucial data needed to pinpoint the crash Subramanian, who previously made headlines for discovering the debris of India's own Vikram lander from the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019, once again demonstrated his extraordinary skill in analysing lunar through the OHRC's detailed images, he identified unusual patterns and bright spots in the expected crash zone, which matched the characteristics of spacecraft OHRC images are incredibly detailed, allowing astronomers to spot even small fragments on the lunar surface. Resilience lunar lander above the Moon. (Photo: ispace) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is however, yet to confirm the orbiter has been praised for its technological capabilities ever since it was deployed in 2019. It was also responsible for scouting the landing zone for the crashed spacecraft for private company discovery not only provides important data for the Japanese space agency's analysis of the mission failure but also highlights the growing role of citizen scientists in space orbiter continues to deliver high-resolution imagery and scientific data, supporting both Indian and international lunar missions. As the world gears up for renewed exploration of the Moon, Chandrayaan-2 remains central for imagery and analysin of the lunar Watch
